Amazing Journey
by doctor's gal 1792
Summary: A rough childhood lead Harper to Atlanta for college and a daughter; the only good thing she's ever had. Then the outbreak came and they ran. A chance reunion with the only person who ever cared for her, leads her to a new life. Will her new family be able to heal her from the pain of the past and will she allow the one thing she was always denied, to come into her life? Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Amazing Journey**

**Author: doctors gal1792**

**Rating: M for swearing and later chapters. **

**Summary: Harper Jefferson has basically been on her own all her life. A horrible childhood lead her to Atlanta with a useless college degree and a daughter, the only good thing she's ever had. Then the outbreak came and they run, with her daughter's life being the only thing she cares about. Then a chance meeting in the woods leads her to a new life, a new chapter in the race against the walkers, and a connection with someone she hasn't thought about in almost fifteen years. Will her new family be able to heal her from the pain of the past and will she be able to keep her child safe?**

**A/N-Okay uhm...I have NEVER written for this show before...I just finished season three the other day and I have had this Daryl/OC idea in my head...but I was scared to do anything with it until I saw that there is actually a fair amount of Daryl/OC fics...so yeah! Please please please be nice to me.**

**xxxxx**

Chapter 1

To say that Harper Jefferson had it rough growing up, would be an understatement. When she was ten she walked in on her dad in bed with a woman that wasn't her mother and that earned her the beating of a lifetime, one that certainly stayed with her into adult hood. At thirteen her mother died in a horrible car accident and he father blamed her for it. When she turned fifteen, her father married the woman he had been screwing since Harper was ten, and the woman didn't treat her much better than her father. At sixteen she was forced to show her breasts to some boys at school who had witnessed her trying to sell things she had stolen from her dad's dresser; they promised not to tell but they said something anyway-her father locked her in her room for two days with nothing but water to drink.

Her stepmother blamed Harper when Mr. Jefferson was arrested based off an anonymous call that he had a possession of child porn and that earned her a place on the street for it. At that point however, Harper didn't care. She always said the street was a better place than that home. She found herself in a girls shelter, with women that showed her more love than her mother ever did. Harper was always grateful for that shelter because they made sure Harper stayed in school and they were responsible for getting her to college.

But college in the big city had been rough for a girl who had come from a town where everyone knew each others names. She got through it though, maintaining a 3.5 GPA, however Harper couldn't survive entirely unscathed. She was eight months pregnant when she walked the stage to receive her diploma. The baby was the result of a one night stand with a frat boy who had promised to love her; Mark had not said a word to her since she had told him she was pregnant and he had even done everything in his power to make it sound like she was some crazy psycho who was obsessed with him.

When Harper's little girl was born however, the child and mother were both healthy and happy. Harper moved into a one bedroom apartment in downtown Atlanta, on the top floor, and she worked two jobs while her best friend from college helped her to watch the baby. For awhile there they were even happy, Harper would always say the first years of her daughter's life were the happiest, because nothing else mattered in the world but her little girl.

The first signs of the outbreak came on Lilah's seventh birthday. Harper had gotten the day off from work and she was out doing grocery shopping for the party, when she caught a snippet on the news. Hospitals were in quarantine and the National Guard was moving in. The next day when Harper was getting ready to go to work, she received a call from her boss, all she heard was, "Don't come in. Get out of the city! Run!" There were screams after that and the line was disconnected.

So Harper did just what she was told. She packed up clothes, food, blankets, and the .38 she kept in her closet. The streets were beginning to be overrun with these...things and Harper didn't remember ever driving as fast as she did that night. They had tried to evacuate her college friend, but when they pulled up to the apartment, there was no hope. Harper sat in a momentary state of horror as she watched people-no not people-creatures tearing the flesh off of people.

The radios said big cities were not safe but neither were small towns, so Harper had no where to go. She learned from the radio that the only way they could be killed was by penetration in the head and after that she kept her gun just a little closer at night. Mother and daughter drove to Harper's hometown, but it was a ghost town. She went to her old house and found it deserted. She carried her child through the house and they gathered up things that were left. More blankets, more coats, more food, and then she found her father's gun cabinet, still filled and well stocked. When they left the small town in Georgia, the car was fuller and Harper had her own mini arsenal in the back, and she had never been happier that she had gone with the stow and go seating in her minivan.

For over a year the mother and daughter traveled up and down roads, trying to find help, and when food ran low, Harper made sure Lilah had food first and foremost. There were occasional groups that they met up with, people who had camped in the woods for awhile, but nothing ever permanent. Harper had grown up not trusting anyone and she wasn't going to change that now, not in a volatile world.

The first winter they spent during the outbreak, they lived in the van and in the second winter, Harper found an abandoned cabin in the woods. She cleaned it out and made sure there were no walkers before carrying her daughter and their belongings into the cabin. The place was small but it served it's purpose for the two. A small bed in the corner was shared by the two and she never forgot the night that Lilah thought to thank her mother for all of the blankets they had carried with them last summer. Boards over the windows and being very quiet kept the walkers away from them and for the most part they lived a quiet existence in the cabin.

"Baby, momma is going to go hunting for supper. You stay here and be very quiet, okay?" Harper said to her daughter one night.

Lilah sighed, "Yes momma."

"You remember what I told you?" She asked, as she handed the child a small pistol.

"Aim for the head," Lilah said.

Harper kissed her daughter on the forehead, "I won't be long."

There was an exchanging of 'I love you's,' and Harper was out of the cabin. There was no sign of walkers in the general area as she left and she found herself slipping her coat off as the warm rays of spring sun shone through the trees and warmed her skin. She had noticed over the months that her senses had heightened and so a slight rustle of wind in the trees would set her on edge. A snap of a twig and Harper's eyes began to scan the woods all around her and then she spotted a walker, she was raising her bow and arrow, a simple thing that she had raided from a sports store and was just about to let the arrow go, when someone else took the creature out.

Just behind where the walker had been standing, was a man who stood over the creature, a knife in his hand and something slung over his back. He looked up and spotted Harper and that was when he began to approach.

"Stay where you are," she ordered, dropping the bow and arrow, and drawing her gun.

"What tha' hell are you doin' out here?" the voice called, his southern accent was thick and she suddenly found herself homesick for her small town.

"I swear, if you come any closer to me, I will put a bullet in her brain," she threatened.

Still he stepped closer, his hands up, "Who are you?"

Harper cocked the gun and stepped closer so that she was now a mere few feet in front of him. The man before her seemed to give off every stereotype of your average redneck. He had a torn flannel shirt, revealing tattoos. His leather boots reminded her of the ones that her father used to wear and his belt buckle added to the look.

"Who the Hell are you and what the Hell do you want?" Harper asked, her voice remaining level despite the adrenalin coursing through her veins.

"I was huntin' in these woods for supper. What about you?"

"That's none of your damn business," she said, "Now I want you to turn around and leave. You never saw me here and you know nothing about this place."

"Wait a minute," he frowned, "I know you."

Her eyebrows raised, "I highly doubt that."

"Yeah, you're the daughter of that piece of shit Jefferson!"

"How would you know that?" She asked, shaking now. None of her fathers friends had ever showed her any remorse, if anything they always seemed to make the situation at home worse.

"My brother used to play poker at your house. I'mma few years older than you but I always felt sorry hearing about the shit you endured."

"Who are you?" she asked, "I am not going to ask again."

"Daryl Dixon," he said, lowering his arms.

Waves of memories rushed back to Harper all at once. Merle was always ransacking their already bare cabinets for food, taunting her, and always taking her father's side. But Daryl had never been cruel, if anything she remembered him being closed off. He'd had it rough like her too; a daddy that beat her, a dead mother, and no one else really there for them. Sure, Daryl had Merle, but she also remembered he always seemed to be gone to juvy.

Harper lowered her gun, "How did you find me?"

"I mean," Daryl shrugged, "I wasn' lookin' for ya if that's what ya mean."

Harper sighed and brushed the layer of sweat that had formed above her brow away, "I have to get back to my cabin."

"Are you okay out here?" It wasn't like Daryl to offer help to people he met in the woods, he usually did as Rick instructed, and that was care for their own people first and think about others later. But this wasn't just regular old people. This was Harper Jefferson, who had always offered a smile to him despite the layers of sadness that lined her face. He had never been happier when she left for Atlanta to go to school; finally out of the hell hole that was their town.

Harper shrugged, "I'm getting by. I go on the occasional run and find things. We mostly survive off of wild game."

"We?" Daryl asked.

She blanched, she was trying to leave Lilah out of this, for her daughter's own safety. But she had slipped up and it had to come out now, "My daughter and I."

"You have a kid?" he asked, his eyebrows raising.

"She's eight," Harper nodded, "Had her right after graduation."

"Look, I have people back up the road. We're hold up in a old prison. There is plenty of room for ya," he said.

Harper was about to answer when she heard a loud scream come from the cabin. She whirled around to look and saw Lilah running towards her, "Momma!" she cried.

Harper ran towards her daughter just as an arrow whizzed past her head and landed it's self into the forehead of a walker, "Baby, what happened?"

Lilah was shaking in her mother's arms, "I heard a noise and I thought it was you," she said, "So I opened tha door but you weren't there."

"Baby are you okay? You weren't bit, were you?" Harper instantly began to check over her daughter's small limbs.

"I shot the one at the door, like you told me. Then more were coming and I slipped between their legs and ran faster than them."

Harper held her child tightly, "You're okay now, baby." She glanced over her child's head to Daryl who was watching the scene, his crossbow still raised for any oncoming zombies. "Is it safe, where you're at?" she asked.

"We cleaned out an entire cell block and secured the premises. There's a huge fenced in yard where this one can play. We have two other children in our group, Carl and the baby," Daryl explained.

"Momma, who is this?" Lilah asked, looking up at Daryl for the first time.

"This is Mr. Dixon, he is from the same town as me and his brother-" she faltered, "Merle, you're brother, he's not?" she stopped herself, because she didn't want to seem selfish.

"No he," Daryl faltered and continued, "He died."

"I'm sorry," Harper said, "I didn't mean to bring Merle up in such a flippant way," she got to her feet.

"It's okay," Daryl shrugged, "So are you going to come?"

Harper nodded, "I need to get some of our things. It's not much but we have some canned beans and soup. We don't keep much in the cabin in case we have to get away quickly."

"Smart," Daryl said, he moved off and picked up the bow and arrow that Harper had dropped earlier, "You might need this."

Harper took the weapon and slung it over her shoulder, "Thanks." She turned around, still holding her child tightly, and began to walk back to the cabin, with Daryl following at a slow pace to give them some space.

When they stepped up into the cabin, Harper set her daughter down and quickly pulled the body off of the front steps. She felt heat next to her and saw Daryl had come over to help, "You're girl did this to him?" he asked.

"Yeah, I taught her," she answered.

Together the two pulled the walker off to the side of the cabin and then Daryl hung back on the porch as Harper walked inside to begin to gather up their things. He couldn't help himself when he looked back to watch the two clean the place up. Lilah was small for her age but Daryl was sure the lack of proper food didn't help. She reminded him of Harper when she was that age. Both had rich blonde locks that they had pulled back into ponytails and he noticed that Lilah mimicked her mother's movements. They moved fast and said nothing as they emptied the cabinets of the food. Blankets were rolled up and shoved into a hiking backpack and lastly, Lilah pushed her feet into small boots, that resembled her mothers.

"Are ya ready?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, here," she handed him a bag, "Help me get this stuff to the van."

"Van?" he asked, frowning.

Lilah and Harper headed off into the woods, towards the highway, but they were still deep enough that someone couldn't see the van from the road. It was parked on a trail with a camouflage tarp covering the entire thing. Harper pulled it off and opened the back door of the car and she began to load their things in.

"Get in the car, monkey butt," she told Lilah.

"Yes mommy," Lilah said before running around to the doors.

"Here," Daryl said as he pulled open the heavy sliding door for the child.

"Thank you," she told him.

Daryl closed the door and walked around to the back of the van, "I'm glad you're comin' with me."

Harper looked at him, "I don't want any trouble or any memories of that God forsaken town," she said, "I am doing this for her so that she isn't living in fear and you said there was a kid there she could play with," she shrugged, "Everything I do is for her because she is all I have."

"No trouble will come to you at the prison," he told her, "I swear it."

She nodded, "Thank you."

Harper turned back to the van and closed the vehicle up, "Did you walk here or what?"

"Nah, my bike is parked just up on the side of the road at the entrance to the path, drive on down and meet me," Daryl said before taking off.

Harper quickly walked to the drivers seat and climbed in, "All in?" she asked.

"Yes momma," Lilah answered.

"Let's go," Harper said quietly, starting the car and then slowly driving down the path, "And I pray this isn't a huge mistake," she murmured, so quietly that Lilah never acknowledged that her mom said anything.

Xxxx


	2. Chapter 2

**Trigger Warning: Physical violence, mentions of molestation, etc.**

**xx**

Chapter 2

"So you knew Daryl growing up?"

Harper was in the last cell block on the top floor and she had slowly been unpacking her things, making up the two bunk beds for her and her daughter. The group had welcomed her with open arms once Daryl had explained who she was and Lilah had gone outside in the yard to play. The place hadn't been exactly as Daryl had explained it when they arrived. They were in the process of fixing the outer fences, that had been destroyed in some showdown with a man who called himself the Governor. But, Daryl had assured her, they had come a long way in securing the place since then.

They had gotten inside the prison, been introduced to everyone and then allowed to choose whatever cell they wanted. So now Harper found herself in a corner cell with Carol leaning in the doorway, holding baby Judith in her arms.

"Sort of," Harper set the bags into a corner and sat down on the bed, "His brother was always at the house playing cards with my piece of shit daddy. Sometimes he dragged Daryl along but I tried to stay out of the house as much as possible," she sighed, "He was a few years older than me at school, if he was at school."

"I think it is so great that he found you," Carol said, "There is so few of us left out there, it's great when you can reconnect with people."

Harper shrugged, "I can hardly believe it. The last time I was in the town I thought everyone was dead."

"That's about the same thing where I am from," Carol smiled, "Nothing was left. We met up with some people and camped in the woods outside of Atlanta. Then we hit the road and met Hershel and his people. The farm was safe for awhile and then we came here."

"Wasn't always easy though," Harper pointed out.

"No, the incident with the Governor certainly complicated things," Carol smiled, "But we get through it."

"Well whatever you all need, I will pull my weight," Harper said, "I'm not one to sit around and do nothing."

"I'll make sure Rick knows."

The two women chatted as they left the cell and headed downstairs.

"There is soup in the kitchen," Beth offered, "Daddy has your little girl eating some now."

Harper smiled at the younger girl, "Thank you."

They walked the length of the cell block and crossed into the small dining area where Lilah was happily eating her bowl of soup. Harper took a bowl from the stove and sat down beside her daughter.

The one thing that Harper noticed about these new people was the family feel they gave off. They had found each other through broken circumstances and now they loved each other as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She'd never had anything like that, except for the love her daughter gave her.

"This one though," Daryl said, pointing at Lilah, "Carl she's gon' give you a run for yer money."

"Why?" Carl asked, frowning.

"Expert marksman, shot a walker in close quarters and still left an exit wound."

"My momma taught me how to shoot 'em!" Lilah said, grinning at the attention all of the adults in the room were giving her.

"Next we'll teach her to wield a sword," Michonne said, the glimmer of a smile painted the woman's face.

Harper raised an eyebrow, "Yeah well, we're focusing on archery. No more loud weapons."

Daryl's gaze fixed on the woman across from him, "We can make her a proper sized bow and arrow if you want. I used to make them when I was a kid and had nothing better to do."

"I remember that," Harper said, frowning, "You used to follow Merle around with that bow around your shoulder."

"Yeah, until Merle snapped it in half," Daryl pushed the bowl of food away from him, "I'm going to go relieve Maggie and Glenn from watch."

The others said nothing as Daryl left and only Carol and Harper watched his retreating figure climb the stairs and go outside.

Harper didn't see Daryl for the rest of the evening but Maggie and Beth stayed close to the new woman, making sure she and Lilah were comfortable and good for the evening. Harper liked the two sisters enough, but she had forgotten what it was like to have other people to want to talk and make friends; she hadn't tried to make a friend in eight years, so the action now felt weird and her responses, forced.

Lilah slept in the top bunk that night but Harper laid awake, staring up at the mattress above her, listening to quiet whispers from the cell block. The moon cast weird shapes across the room and for awhile she turned her gaze to the large bared windows, watching the moon and clouds as they moved over the silver orb.

_"Daddy I swear I didn't say anything!" _

_ "You lyin' little shit," the man kicked her in the stomach and the girl curled in on herself holding her now broken ribs, "I saw you whispering to yer momma." _

_ "No I swear!" The girl was crying. _

_ "Earl get the hell off of her!" a woman screamed in the background. _

_ "Shut up you stupid bitch." _

_ Harper looked up and saw her father swing back and punch her mother in face. She screamed, "Momma!" _

_ Her mother stumbled into a chair and started going down to the carpeted floor. _

_ "I told you to shut up yerself!" Earl turned back to his only child, he lifted his leg and kicked her again. _

_Xxx_

_ "Please don't touch me," Harper was fourteen and crying in the corner of her bedroom. One of her father's poker buddies had wandered into her room and had tried to kiss her. _

_ "It won't hurt a bit," he said, smiling at her and revealing the stench of alcohol and broken teeth. _

_ "Please," she cried, but before she could move he was on her and pinning her arms down to the bed and he was rubbing himself up against her." _

_xxx _

Harper cried out and woke up, she was covered in a cold sweat and the room was still dark, the moon had gone behind the clouds again. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and checked on her daughter, who seemed to be sleeping soundly for the first time in months.

"Harper?" a tired voice asked from the door way.

Harper spun around to see Carol feeding the baby, "Yeah?"

"Are you okay? I heard you crying."

Harper stared at the baby, something like that in a world like this still amazed her. The child was sucking at the bottle happily, like nothing else mattered in the world. She sighed and looked back at Carol, "Yeah I just had a bad dream," She slipped her feet into her leather boots, "I'm gonna go outside and get some air, can you just keep an eye on her for me?"

"Of course," Carol smiled, "You sure you're okay?"

She nodded, "I just need to clear my head."

Harper slid her arms into her leather jacket, grabbed her bow and arrow from the corner, and headed out of the cell. When she made it outside, the cold air hit her harder than she had expected. They were shaking off the last days of winter but it was still very cold at night. Walkers were rattling the gates and that seemed to make her colder. Her eyes scanned the land and they fell on Daryl, who was still sitting at his watch post. She climbed the stairs and sat down next to him, "Hi," she said quietly.

He turned to look at her, a surprised look on his face as if he hadn't even heard her climb up the metal stairs, "Oh hey."

"Look I'm sorry about earlier, if mentioning things from our childhood upset you," she shrugged, "I didn't mean-"

"It wasn' your fault," he said, "I'm the one who brought up making bows."

There was a long silence and then, "Can I ask what happened to Merle?"

Another long silence and Daryl shifted before telling her everything. How Merle had left Michonne and gone after the Governor and how he had finally found his brother, chowing down on one of the Governor's dead men. His voice was thick with emotion as he finished the story and Harper saw a side of Daryl Dixon that she had never known.

"I'm sorry," her voice was quiet and her eyes fixed to the ground.

"Don't be, I know he never made it any easier for ya."

Harper looked at him, "What?"

"He came home one night and said he had sat there and watched as your dad hit on ya because you dropped a bottle of beer. He laughed about it," Daryl shrugged, "We got into a fist fight that night."

Harper remembered the night clearly, it was the same night as the memory of her dream, "I ran and hid in my room for a few hours after that but dad still had people over. I remember Merle had left because I had heard his bike rev up," she sighed, "One of my dad's friends came into my room and molested me." She laughed a sad and bitter laugh, "I have never told anyone that."

Daryl looked at her and she couldn't quite read his expression in the darkness, "I woulda killed 'em. All of 'em."

"Were you in town when my dad was arrested?" she asked, slowly.

"I was camping out in the woods. Merle had left and I was hiding from my dad. I spent a week deep in the woods, drunk off of stolen liquor."

"Must of been nice," the thought of whiskey made her mouth dry, "Anyway I planted porn all in his computer. Hid it in his room, everything. I was the one who called in the tip on him," she sighed, "I sent my father to prison for life."

"I hope you don' feel bad for it," Daryl said.

"No, not at all. I spent too many days lying to teachers and walk in clinics about falling down the stairs because of him. He practically killed my momma. Drove her to drink and that was why she was drunk that night," she sighed, "And she wanted me to go with her. I sometimes think my momma killed herself and wanted to take me so that we wouldn't have to suffer anymore." Harper brushed a stray tear away, "Here I said I wasn't going to reminisce about my God damn childhood and here we are."

"Where is Lilah's dad?" Daryl asked, trying to change the subject.

"Probably dead," she shrugged, "I hope he is."

"What happened?"

"Result of a one night stand with a guy who had been perusing me. Made me think he loved me, the works. When I found out I was pregnant he spent the remainder of the school year trying to convince people I was crazy and stalking him, all while insisting the baby was not his," she shrugged, "I've been on my own with her since day one, but we didn't need him."

"You have done a pretty damn good job, given everythin' that's happened."

She gave him one of her famous smiles then, the ones that Daryl loved as a kid but they always betrayed her sadness, "Thanks I guess."

"Daryl?" a voice called out in the darkness.

The pair turned to see Rick climbing the stairs, "I'll take the watch," he said, "Oh, hi Harper."

Harper got to her feet quickly, "Hey Rick," she said, "Good night." It was the last thing she said before quickly running back inside of the prison.

Daryl's eyes followed her figure, much like she had followed him earlier and then he looked back to Rick, "Thanks."

Rick nodded, "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

"Nah," Daryl headed for the stairs, "See you in the mornin'."

xx

A/N: Please review so I know if I should continue.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Harper looked at her reflection in the mirror, she blanched. It was a small sheen of glass that someone had found in the wardens office and thus cleaned up for everyone to use. It was the first time in months that she had seen her face in anything other than the mirrors in her van. She noticed the faded sheen of her once golden hair. Harper once had shining blue eyes, despite the horrors of her childhood, but now they were completely faded, no artistry to them was left. She saw bones that had never been so exposed in the past and she felt sick. The first year of college she had felt like she had to be thin to fit in and now that she was thin like the sorority girls, it just didn't seem right.

Beth had loaned her a hair brush and carefully, Harper combed through the tangles. She and Lilah had bathed in cold water that morning but it had felt good to get the grime off of her body. Her hair now was a wet mess and it had always proven to be difficult to brush out if she didn't have the right shampoo.

"Your hair is beautiful," Carol said, coming into the room.

Harper shook her head, "Oh not really. Not like it used to be," she sighed and continued to work at the knots.

"Here, let me," Carol came over and took the brush from Harper's hand and she began to gently work through the hair. "I think your hair is still very beautiful. You can see where Lilah gets it from."

"I have always been grateful that she never took after her dad," Harper murmured.

She watched her reflection in the mirror as Carol brushed her hair with so much love and care and she couldn't help the ache she felt in her chest, for a counselor at the girls home, long since dead, who would brush her hair out like this every night.

"My daughter Sophia used to beg me to brush her hair like this," Carol smiled, "This and story time were her favorite parts of the night."

"What happened to Sophia?" Harper asked gently.

Carol took a deep breath, "There were walkers out on the highway and one almost grabbed her. She took off into the woods and Rick went after her but they got separated. We found her later as a walker. She's buried on Hershel's farm."

"Oh God, Carol I'm so sorry," Harper turned around to look at the older woman, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh no honey, you're quite alright," Carol made Harper turn around again, "I have to thank God for Daryl every day because he made sure I got through it. It destroyed him nearly as much as me."

"Really?"

"I think it was a case of, he didn't want to lose anymore people but children especially, he seems to connect with them better," Carol smiled, "You should have seen him when Judith was born."

"Must have been why he was so insistent on us coming along, for Lilah's sake," Harper shrugged.

"Well you were a factor too," Carol smiled, "He has been smiling a lot today, as if he found something he had lost a long time ago."

Harper shook her head, "Oh don't be silly."

Carol opened her mouth to reply but she was cut off by Rick and the others entering the room, "We need to make a run into town. We're running very low on baby formula."

"I'll go," Harper offered.

"Are you sure?" Rick asked.

"I need to pull my weight, since you all took us in," she answered.

"Alright, anyone else?"

"I'll go with her," Daryl offered.

"Okay, here is a list of things that Hershel, Beth, and I determined we need. See what you can do," Rick handed a slip of paper to Daryl who looked it over before handing it to Harper.

"Shouldn't take long," Harper said, "Let me just get my things and tell Lilah where I'm going."

xxx

"Anything on this aisle?"

"No, just empty shelves. I'm going to try the stock room."

"Okay, just be careful."

"I always am."

Daryl watched as Harper stalked off down the dark aisles of the grocery store. They had left camp an hour before in search of supplies. The baby formula was getting dangerously low and they needed to do something quickly. So far they hadn't found much except for walkers that had to be put down.

Harper moved quickly and quietly, she spotted a few cans on the floor and ran over to pick them up. One can of beans, one can of corn, and some mushrooms. She sighed in relief and put them in the bag.

"What did ya find?"

She jumped and spun around to see Daryl behind her. "God damn it, Dixon," she fussed, "Don't fucking sneak up on people."

He smirked, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Harper shook her head at him, "Just some vegetables and beans."

"Better than nothing."

She sighed and continued on down the aisle, they stopped at a set of gray swinging doors and she stood up to peak into the dark stock room, "You have a flash light?" she whispered.

"Here," Daryl handed her the small black flash light, "I'll cover you," he said as he held his crossbow up.

Harper nodded and pushed open the doors quietly. The light came on and it illuminated the large room. All that met them was boxes, some were on shelves and some were on the floor overturned. "I'll take the second floor," she said, pointing to the stairs with her light, "You search down here."

"We should stay together," he murmured.

"But we cover more ground if we split up," Harper pointed out, putting her hand on her hips.

"Alright little Miss. Sass but we need t'stay together in case something happens," Daryl snapped back.

She stared at him for a moment, trying to think of a retort but all she could come up with was, "Little Miss. Sass? Really?"

"Well don't go around puttin' your hands on your damn hips if you don't want to get stupid names."

Harper said nothing this time and turned around to start rummaging through boxes. She heard Daryl just beside her as he pulled a box off the shelf and cut it open.

"Jack pot," he said, staring down in wonder at the baby formula that had gone unscathed.

"Oh my god," she said, looking at it as if it were gold.

They quickly began to empty the box, loading up their bags with the containers, "We should take this out to the van and come back for more," she said.

Daryl pulled another heavy box down and opened it, "Think this is enough canned vegetables to last us awhile?"

"Jesus, how is this stuff still here?" Harper exclaimed.

Daryl smirked and looked around, "Ah, here," he walked over to a corner and found a hand cart, "Let's load this up," he said.

The pair carefully maneuvered the cart through the store and stopped at the doors, "Walkers by the passenger side," she whispered.

Daryl peeked out and nodded, "Cover me," he said before taking off out of the store. Harper stood in the door way, her gun in hand as she watched Daryl move like lightning, taking out walkers. When she heard the whistle, Harper carefully began to push the cart out of the store and to the van.

"Let's see if there is anything else we can find and then head back," she offered, once the car was loaded.

"Yeah, come on."

Daryl lead the way back into the store, they searched for another half hour, finding half full boxes but what they could get on the cart, they took.

"Did you hear that?" Harper stopped the rummaging of a box and looked around.

"Hear what?

She frowned, "Sounded like shuffling."

Daryl looked around, "I don't hear any-"

"Shh!" she hissed and pointed to the door, there was a shadow of movement, "Walkers," she whispered.

He frowned and grabbed her by the hand, pulling Harper down into the corner under the stairs. The door swung open gently and they heard the heavy noises of the walkers; two of them. The space under the stairs was tight and Daryl kept an arm around Harper to keep her close. Neither of them said a word as the doors swung shut and the walkers moved around the room.

They were so close together in the small space, Harper swore she could hear Daryl's heart thudding against his chest. His body was warm and she couldn't help but think about the last time she had been held by a man. The image came to her clearly and she shook her head to send the image away.

"You okay?" Daryl whispered quietly.

"Yeah," she lied.

After a moment the walkers began to move towards the opposite corner, as if something interested them.

"When I say so, make a run for it," Daryl told her in a deathly quiet whisper.

Harper gave a nod and when she felt a tight squeeze of her hand and a movement of the head from Daryl, she scrambled out from under the stairs and took off running. The walkers didn't notice until the doors swung open and Daryl took off right behind her.

"Daryl!"

He ran faster then and collided into her, "What is it? What's wrong?"

She pointed outside and the parking lot was filled. Where there had only been one or two walkers before, there were now dozens of them, "We can't take them ourselves."

Daryl watched the creatures in the parking lot, mentally assessing the situation, "Well fuck," was all he came up with.

Harper looked back and saw the walkers from the storage room, "Daryl we have to go."

"Alright, I'm going to push open the doors and you're going to get into the car and see if you can pull the off by making them follow the van," he turned and shot an arrow off into one of the walkers heads behind him, "Then circle back, get as close to the door as you can and I'll run out and jump in."

Harper nodded, "Okay."

"On three," he whispered, "One...two...three-GO!" Daryl pushed the doors open and Harper took off running, shooting off her gun only when a walker got too close. She climbed into the passenger seat and climbed over to the drivers side. She shoved the keys into the ignition and the engine roared to life, Harper cracked the window and shouted, "Come on fuckers!" Before revving up the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

As Daryl hoped, the walkers began to follow the van, he glanced back at the second walker, who was a mere feet away from him. He shot off an arrow and the creature fell to the ground. Daryl took off up the aisle to retrieve his arrows and doubled back towards the door, just in time to see Harper pull up. He darted out of the doors and jumped into the car, quickly closing the door as she took off out of the parking lot.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, you?"

She shrugged, "Suppose."

"We cut it close there," he said, his eyes looking out of the windows, following the trees as they passed by.

"No shit," she couldn't help the angry tone in her voice then, "I'm sorry Daryl it isn't your fault, I just," Harper shrugged, "I can't leave Lilah like that. She's seen so much death as it is."

"Her and Carl both," Daryl agreed, "We all have."

"Why did you rescue me?" Harper asked, changing the subject suddenly.

"What do ya mean?"

"You offered us a place in the jail but you could have easily left me. You didn't owe me anything, we weren't friends growing up, we never dated, we never had anything except for the occasional hello. So, why did you rescue me?"

Daryl shrugged and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "'Cause I know yer good people and you have a kid."

"I could have changed," Harper said, still keeping her eyes on the road, "I mean Daryl, I haven't seen you since I was seventeen. A lot has happened to me since then."

"What the hell do ya want me to say?" he growled, giving her a look, "I thought I was doing the right thing."

Harper didn't say anything else and a moment later they were pulling up the dirt path of the prison, driving past walkers and going right through the open gate where Carl and Beth had been waiting for them. She hadn't even turned the car off when Daryl got out and took off, to God knows where.

"Is everything okay?" Rick asked Harper as she got out of the car, eying Daryl with a wary expression.

She shrugged, "He is being Daryl Dixon again." Harper moved to the back of the car, "There was a lot of stuff left at this store," she sighed, "But two walkers got in the store and had us cornered. When we got to the car the parking lot was filled with more than we could handle. But we managed to get this stuff."

"Oh my God!" Carol had come around to the back and opened a box, "This is amazing!"

"Somehow the store went unscathed," Harper shrugged and grabbed the box of formula out of the car while Rick got the vegetables.

"Momma!" Lilah exclaimed when she saw her mother enter the prison.

"Hi baby girl," Harper greeted, giving her daughter a smile.

"Why don't you get some rest? You look like you could use it," Carol offered.

"Are you sure you don't need me to do anything?" Harper asked, "I really would be fine."

"No, you go rest. We will be fine," Carol beamed at Harper, who finally relented.

She kissed her daughter on the forehead and entered the cell block.

Xx

_ "Where in the hell are you going?" _

_ Harper was walking down the highway and had been for at least an hour. Cars had been driving by, paying her no attention, and she had grown used to ignoring the sounds of pickup trucks. So, she hadn't noticed the sound of Daryl Dixon's pickup as she walked and it wasn't until he had driven up beside her and was shouting out the window at her that she knew who it was. _

_ "Why do you care?" she asked, giving him a look. _

_ Harper Jefferson was still just a kid, in comparison to Daryl's age but he couldn't help but notice the woman she had become. She was seventeen and possessed curves that he had never noticed before. "I'll give ya a ride if ya want." _

_ Harper continued walking, "I don't need no help from a God damn Dixon. I don't need help from anyone in this God forsaken town." _

_ Daryl sped up his truck and pulled off to the side, blocking the path Harper was walking. He quickly jumped out of the car and walked over to her, "What in the hell is that supposed ta' mean?" _

_ She looked at him, fixing him with the angriest glare she could muster, "What is what supposed to mean?" _

_ "A God damn Dixon." _

_ "Oh please, don't act like your family is so saint like. I know your piece of shit daddy is no better than my sorry excuse of a sperm donor father," She said, "And don't get me fucking started on Merle." _

_ "You better watch your mouth, girl," he snarled. _

_ "Try and stop me," she spat. _

_ "And how would you know what my daddy is like?" Daryl asked her. _

_ "Because the last time I saw Merle he was telling my father how Will Dixon beat the shit out of him and that was the night before he disappeared. Must be something in the water up here." _

_ "And what does that mean?" _

_ "Daddies beating their children," she shook her head, "If you must know where I am going, my step mother kicked me out." _

_ "Why? What happened?" Daryl's entire demeanor changed in that moment. _

_ "Where have you been? Everyone in town is talking about it," she laughed, "Earl Jefferson was sentenced to life in prison and I got blamed. So I'm going," Harper looked around, "I dunno. When I was little my mom took me up to this cabin in the mountains so maybe I'll go there." _

_ Daryl was silent for a few minutes and then said, "No you can't miss school, get in the damn truck. There is a girls home near the shop. They'll take you in. I'd let you stay at my place but you don't need to leave one abusive home to go to another." _

_ Harper didn't say anything for a few minutes and then headed back to Daryl's old truck. She threw her bag into the truck bed with his camping gear and empty bottles of liquor and then climbed into the front seat. The ride into town was quiet except for the sounds of Johnny Cash coming out of the stereo, which Daryl sang along to and even a few of them Harper found herself humming along. When they reached the girls home Harper turned to look at him, "Thank you Daryl, for the ride." _

_ "No problem, holler if you need a thing," he told her. _

_ Harper leaned over and pecked him on the cheek before climbing out of the truck. She grabbed her bag and gave him that smile and then she was gone. _

_**Xx**_

**A/N- Okay so glad I finally got some reviews. I always get super anxious when I post in a fandom for the very first time so all day yesterday my nerves were on edge. I'm still trying to find Daryl's voice...you'd think for someone from a back woods town like Daryl and Harper, I'd be able to write in hick speak better...but I've also spent the better part of the last 10 years trying to get away from the red neck sound. Doesn't help that despite being from the south I talk like a Northerner because of my dad. ANYWAYS so in the mean time I am trying to find Daryl's voice and struggling with his age. I finally placed him at about nine years older than Harper because Daryl's wiki page says he is in his later 30s-early 40s and I didn't want him the same age as Norman because Norman doesn't look like he is in his 40s. Did y'all know Norman was in a Hilary Duff music video? What is that about?! I died laughing and I LOVE Hilary...but here all this time I knew him best from playing Judas. Anyways, I'm rambling. Please review. Reviews are my fuel for my muse. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Where is Lilah?" Harper had just woken up and realized she had slept through the remainder of the afternoon and through the night. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept like that, her nights were usually spent pacing the floors with a cocked gun, or if she did sleep, filled with nightmares.

"I think she is outside with Daryl," Beth said, "Are you hungry?"

Harper shook her head, "No thank you, I usually can't eat right after I wake up."

"That was quite an impressive sleep you got there," Hershel commented, "We didn't want to wake you up for supper last night because you looked like you were totally out of it."

She gave glimmer of a smile and shrugged, "I can't tell you the last time I slept like that."

"I understand completely," Hershel agreed, "It isn't easy, not in this world."

"I'll be back soon for something to eat," Harper promised, "I just want to check on Lilah."

xxx

"Alright Lilah, you need to take a deep breath and keep it steady," Daryl instructed, "Make the weapon part of yer arm."

Lilah hoisted the bow higher, her sights set on the paper target that had been pinned to a wall about twenty feet away. "Like this?" she asked.

"Yeah, now forget I'm here. It's jus' you and that target."

There was a long pause and then Lilah let go of the bow and she stood still, completely breathless as the arrow hurtled through the air towards the target. When it landed into the head of the paper, Lilah let out a squeal of delight.

"I did it!" She turned around and jumped up and down, clearly pleased with herself.

"Damn little girl," Daryl said, "You're gon' be better than me!" He swooped down and picked up the child and carried her over to the wall so she could pull the arrow out of the paper. When they turned back to return to the practice spot, that was when they saw Harper watching.

"Momma, did you see me shoot?" Lilah asked.

"I did!" Harper was amazed, "You did incredible, baby girl!"

Daryl set the child down and she took off running to her mother's embrace. Harper hugged her only child and kissed her on the cheek before picking up the abandoned bow, to inspect. She ran her hands over the smooth wood and pulled a finger against the tight string that Daryl had attached to the weapon. "This is beautiful," she commented, "When did you do this?"

"Last night, worked on it during my watch," he shrugged, "Gave it to her when she woke up and we've been here since. Quick learner, that one."

Harper couldn't help the feeling of pride at that comment, "Lilah was always ahead of everyone else at school."

"I had a gold sticker every week!" Lilah declared proudly.

"Must take after your momma," Daryl told the child.

Lilah beamed and then took the bow from her mother, "I wanna show momma again!"

Daryl stepped back to allow Lilah space so that she could work on her own, "She's a great kid."

Harper looked at him, "You know Lilah is the greatest thing I've ever done. She's the only good thing I've ever had in my life," she paused, "And I was thinking when I woke up this morning, I might not have her if it weren't for you."

He raised an eyebrow, "That child is all you. I didn't have a thing to do with it."

"Well in a way you did," she took a deep breath, "I kept thinking if I hadn't gone to that girls home when I was seventeen, I might not have ever gotten out. I may have wound up shacked up with some drop out from school, in a trailer and with four kids by now. Sure her daddy wasn't worth my time but instead of hiding in a cabin in the woods, a kind man took me to the girls home eleven years ago. He made sure I got there okay and those women took care of me and got me to Atlanta."

Daryl had completely changed his stance, no longer in his usual defensive mode, he seemed completely relaxed, like her words had completely caught him off guard, "You remember that day in the truck?"

Harper smiled, "We sang along to A Boy Named Sue."

"Oh God Damn!" Daryl exclaimed, "That's right. I had the Best of Cash playing."

She nodded, "I hummed to most of the songs but we also did a killer duet on Jackson."

He snickered, "Yeah, maybe killed all of the squirrels in a ten mile radius.

"Oh so you had some good stew that night?"

"Watch it, squirrel stew is delicious!" Daryl said, somewhat serious but Harper was giving him such an incredulous look that they both found themselves laughing harder than either had remembered doing in a long time.

"Momma, did you see me?" Lilah suddenly interrupted, giving her mother and Daryl a look.

"Of course I saw, baby," Harper promised, "You're doing amazing!"

Daryl went to retrieve the arrow for the child and took his spot again beside Harper, "I can't believe ya remember that."

"The way I see it now, that trip in your truck was taking me to my destiny. I just sang along with Cash because those two songs gave me some hope and you know, that night was the first truly happy night I had experienced since my mom had died."

"I remember being proud, excited, and a little jealous when it was in the papers that you was going off to college," Daryl smirked, "But really I was jus' happy you got out of there."

"Thanks," Harper said, "Like I said, I owe a lot of it to you."

"Nah, you owe it to no one but to you."

"Why didn't you ever strike out? Leave like I did and go to Atlanta?" Harper asked, partly curious despite being sure she knew the answer.

He snorted, "What me? Livin' in a big city?" Daryl shook his head, "I belong in the wilderness. Besides," he shrugged this time, "I was a drop out with no chance of it the minute I was born. Didn' even have a GED."

"Guess so," She silenced as she watched her daughter work at the bow and arrow.

"Hey, I was gon' go huntin' after lunch. Do you wanna come?"

Harper looked at him, "Yeah, sure!"

"Ooh can I come?" Lilah asked, having over heard the question.

"No honey, not this time," Harper answered.

"Aw but momma, why?" Lilah whined.

"Lilah Marie Jefferson," Harper said in a stern voice, "What does momma say about whining?"

"Yes ma'am," Lilah said through gritted teeth.

"I think that is enough for practice today," Harper said, eying her daughter warily, "Give me the bow and go inside."

Lilah carefully handed the weapon to her mother, "Thank you Mr. Daryl," she said before disappearing inside the jail.

Daryl watched her go and then looked at Harper, "At least this time she called me Mr. Daryl. Earlier she kept calling me Mr. Dixon which was a weird experience."

"She's known since she could talk that she has to use Mr, Mrs, or Miss, before addressing an adult. My land lady used to think she was just the most darling thing," Harper shrugged, "Anyway, let me go get something to eat, change my clothes, and we can head out."

If Harper had looked back as she walked, she would have caught Daryl watching her move and maybe she would have even seen him scowling that he had caught himself checking her out and watching the way her hips swayed when she walked. "Get yourself together, Dixon," he muttered before heading over to his bike to check on it and prep it for a trip.

Xx

"How is it that Daryl Dixon, expert hunter, tracker, and marksman, who spent most of his life hiding out in the mountains has killed ten animals this week and yet I've gotten twenty?" Harper was beaming as she picked up her latest kill. She pulled the arrow out of the small animal's head and replaced it back where it belonged and she tossed the squirrel into her bag full of that day's hunt.

"Oh," he spit to the side of where he was standing and wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, "Be quiet woman."

She took on a mock scandalized look, "Be quiet woman?" she challenged, "You'll never get me to be quiet about this, for as long as I live!"

They had gone hunting every single day for the last week and it had become Harper's time to unwind. She liked the chance to get beyond the confines of the prison and to be with nature. Sure, there were the walkers, but there were never more than she could handle at one time. The first day they had gone, Daryl had definitely killed more than she had but since then she had been the one bringing in the most and it had finally gotten to the point where she wanted nothing more than to tease him about it.

"Oh you'll be quiet if I make ya," he warned.

Harper raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah, okay then."

Daryl came dangerously close to her, their noses practically touching, "Knock it off little girl."

"Oh so in point three seconds I've gone from woman to little girl?" Harper asked, her voice shook from how close he was, his body heat was practically radiating off of him and on to her.

"If ya act like a child, your gon' be treated like one," was all he said.

Harper's eyes glanced down and then back up to his own, deep green eyes, the shade of which matched her own chocolate brown ones, "You know, if you stepped any closer there, we'd be glued to each other."

Daryl was about to come back with some smart retort when Harper found cold dead hands grab her arm. She screamed and was yanked back. In the moments they had been so focused on each other, they hadn't noticed the female walker come out of nowhere. Harper struggled against the creature, pulling against her captor, "Daryl, kill it!" She cried.

Daryl was already ahead of her as he pulled his already loaded cross bow off of his back and aimed for the walker. He shot it just before Harper could be bitten. The walker dropped to the ground and Harper fell down herself, quickly crawling backwards and towards a tree, anywhere to be away from the dead creature.

"Harper?" Daryl rushed over to her and dropped to her side, "You okay?"

She nodded, her eyes still glued to the creature. She had never come that close to being killed before. There were moments, when Harper was afraid they might be overrun, but she had always prevailed. But, there had never been a moment when a walker had actually touched her. She felt fat tears well up in her eyes and she quickly looked away, embarrassed to have Daryl see her like this.

"Hey, come 'ere," he said, pulling her arms, "It's okay."

She yanked back from him and curled into a ball, sobbing pitifully into her arms. In that moment Daryl saw the little girl again, the one that he had always known her as.

Xx

_"What are you crying about?" _

_ The nine year old girl looked up from her spot on the front steps of her school and shrugged, "Nothin'," she sniffed and wiped her hand over her runny nose. _

_ Harper grabbed her torn backpack and began to walk away from the teenager who had stopped to check on her. _

_ "Come 'ere!" He shouted, running after her, "Harper, you can't walk home." _

_ "I don't need nobodies help!" she snapped. _

_ Daryl was amazed that this child was able to give him such an attitude and for a moment he thought about leaving her to it, no one else had ever helped him when he was nine, so why should he help her now? But then he thought better of it, "Let me at least walk you home, it ain't safe for little girls to be out here by themselves." _

_ "It's a free world, can't stop ya from walking," Harper snapped, but secretly she was glad for the help. _

_ "So what were ya crying about?" Daryl asked. _

_ There was a long silence and just Harper sniffling before she said, "Daddy was supposed to pick me up from school. He forgot about me and he is prolly' passed out on the sofa, drunk as a skunk as we speak." _

_ "Sounds like something my daddy would do," Daryl said, "Ya know one time I went and got lost in the woods and no one knew I was gone?" He smirked, "Goes to show ya what kind of daddy I have." _

_ Harper looked up at him, "How did you eat?" _

_ "Found wild berries," he shrugged, "If I got lost now I could just kill a squirrel and survive." _

_ Harper made a face, "Eww!" _

_ "What?" Daryl looked half offended, but it was an act to make the child feel better, "That's some good eatin'." _

_ "You're nasty,"Harper told him as they turned down the street for her house. _

_ "Don't knock it till ya try it, little one," he replied. _

_ Harper was laughing at something Daryl had told her, just moments later, as they approached the front walk of her house. She was just about to open the gate when the front door ripped open. _

_ "Where the hell have you been?!" The man shouted, "I'll skin yer damn hyde!" _

_ Harper instantly shrunk back into herself and stepped closer to Daryl, as if she hoped he would protect her. _

_ Earl Jefferson looked at her and then he noticed Daryl, "What are you doin' with my girl?" _

_ "Well you forgot to pick your kid up!" Daryl snapped, "So I made sure she got here __okay." _

_ "You leave her alone or I'll have ya locked up," Earl shouted. _

_ Daryl scoffed, "What are ya gonna do? Lock me up for showing more interest in your kid than you?" _

_ "Harper, get in the damn house," Earl said, not taking his eyes off of Daryl. _

_ "Yes daddy," she said quietly before going inside the yard. On the front step she stopped to wave at Daryl, who despite being in the middle of an argument with her father, he seemed to have noticed and gave her a wave. _

_ "Get the hell off my property, you Dixon shit." _

_ "I'm leaving," Daryl snapped, "But next time pick up your kid when your suppose'ta." _

_xx _

"Come here," Daryl said, more gently this time and he carefully pulled the small ball that was Harper, into his arms.

This time she let him take her into his arms and she buried her face into his chest as sobs. shook her whole body. As Daryl held onto the woman in his arms and he pondered on the memory of that September day all those years ago, he realized now that he should have held her then so that she knew she wasn't alone. Years of fear and pain had worn on Harper and now that she was an adult woman living in a world of a zombie apocalypse, she wasn't much better.

"Let's go home," he whispered gently.

Harper looked up at him and instinctively Daryl brushed her tears away. She closed her eyes at his touch, almost savoring the feel of his rough and calloused fingers on her soft cheek. Her eyes fluttered open again and she said nothing but instead placed her lips to his in what was supposed to be a brief peck. Instead, Daryl's hand cupped her face and he pressed his lips back to hers in a feverish manner. Both had been denied so much in their lives and especially now, when you didn't know if you'd live to see another day, and they couldn't help themselves as their lips tore at each other, desperately seeking something, but neither were sure what that was. His hand pressed against her belly and then moved down to her hips which he gripped. Daryl fell back on his legs and Harper shifted her body against his, pulling herself out of the curled ball she had formed and her legs went around his waist, trying to pull him closer to her.

Daryl's hand slipped up from her waist and she shivered at the feel of his rough fingers on her abdomen. His hands were trailing higher when Harper heard the snap of a twig and she broke the kiss, her eyes quickly taking in her surroundings, "There's a uh-" she stammered, "Walker."

Harper detached herself from Daryl, her face turning red as she realized what had just happened. Daryl got to his feet and helped her up, he grabbed his cross bow from where he had dropped it in his haste to care for Harper, and he quickly shot off an arrow into the oncoming walker's head.

"We should head back," Harper murmured, "Before they get worried."

Daryl eyed her, trying to read her body language, but instead of questioning he simply nodded his head in agreement with her, "Yeah, let's go."

They each grabbed their abandoned bag of hunted game and they quietly walked back to his motorcycle, which had been left just on the outskirts of the woods. Daryl attached their bags to the back of the bike and he climbed on before Harper joined him. She was slow to wrap her arms around his waist as he started up the bike, the thought of touching him again both thrilled and terrified her.

"You ready?" He asked, his voice was thick and she knew there was something to the way he said the words, but Harper couldn't place it.

"Yeah, let's go," she placed her head on his back and tightened her grip as they headed back to the prison.

**Xxx**

**A/N- For awhile there I feared I was moving too fast...I feel like it would be too fast if they didn't already have a past together...I tell ya though, I'm enjoying writing their flashback memories...I've been very overwhelmed with all the people putting this on their alerts and favorite lists...it's very encouraging. I still beg for your reviews though. I NEED feedback...as I said before, feedback is food for my muse. **

**Just please let me know! Thanks for reading! xo **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Harper, are you listening to a word I've said?"

Harper looked up from the squirrel she had been skinning and noticed for the first time, that Glenn was standing before her, "Oh I'm sorry," she sighed, "It's been a long day."

She glanced around the yard nervously, making sure Daryl was no where to be seen. When they had arrived back at the prison Harper had disappeared for over an hour, saying nothing to anyone about where she was going. Eventually Carol had found the girl in the makeshift shower room, fiercely scrubbing her body. She had broken down crying all over again, from the stress of the walker earlier that day, with the memories that threatened to overwhelm her, and from these confusing feelings about Daryl fucking Dixon.

_ "Honey, what happened?" Carol grabbed a towel off the table, turned the water off, and wrapped the girl up in the soft terry cloth. _

_ Harper clutched at Carol and cried into her arms for a long time, spitting out her story in brief and broken sentences. "It was a walker. Then Daryl was holding me. Then another walker and memories," Harper shook her head, "So many nightmares." _

The had stayed there talking for at least two hours before Harper finally got dressed and went to clean up her kills from the day.

"Alright well I asked if you wanted to take the watch tonight?" Glenn repeated, not for the first time.

Harper was about to respond when Carol came over from her spot where she was scrubbing clothes on the other side of the yard, "I'll take her watch tonight. Harper isn't feeling all that great."

"Oh no Carol, I'm fine," Harper lied.

"I won't hear a word of it," Carol said.

"Alright," Glenn said slowly, looking between the two women, as if he was sensing something was up, but he didn't push the subject, "Can you take it in the morning?" He asked Harper this time.

"Yeah that'll be fine," Harper said.

Right as the words left her lips, Daryl walked into the yard and their eyes locked by accident. Harper dropped the squirrel and knife she was holding and got to her feet, "Excuse me," she said quietly.

She walked past everyone, not saying a word or daring to look at Daryl, and she quickly disappeared inside. Daryl watched Harper disappear and then looked back over towards Carol, who had fixed him with her own stare. He scowled, not having the slightest clue how to read Carol's face, and with a kick of a rock he disappeared again, to wherever he had been before.

"Did I piss her of or something?" Glenn asked, looking at Carol.

Carol's faces softened when she tore her gaze from Daryl's retreating figure, "No Glenn, she's just exhausted. Don't say anything in front of Lilah but, a walker almost got her today."

"Oh," Glenn said, quietly.

Harper quickly climbed the stairs to the second floor and ducked into her cell. Lilah was out playing with Carl so she had some space to herself. She sat down on the bed and stared at the solid gray wall before her, the images of that afternoon playing in her head on repeat. A film that would never end and it was always the same moments. If she stayed totally quiet and kept still, she could still hear Daryl's ragged breath and feel his rough fingers reaching upwards for her breast.

The thought was shattered then as the piercing scream of Judith met her ears. She turned her head to see Beth carrying the baby up the stairs, "Oh Judith, baby girl, please stop crying," the girl pleaded.

Harper stood up and left the cell, "What's wrong?"

Beth looked at Harper, noticing her for the first time, "Oh hey," she shifted the baby, "I dunno. I've done everything I can think of."

"She's nearly a year now, isn't she?" Harper inquired.

"Just about," Beth agreed.

"Hang on a second," Harper disappeared into the cell and dug around in her bags until she found a package of baby wipes that they had retrieved earlier in the week. She cleaned her hands off and then held her arms out for the baby, who Beth gladly handed over. Harper was careful as she pushed her index finger into the babies mouth. Judith's grip latched on the finger and she began to gum at the flesh, as if trying to bite down on something soft, "She's teething," Harper announced.

Beth watched the interaction with wonder, "So you're just having her use your finger as a teething toy?"

Harper smiled for the first time since that afternoon, "When Lilah started to teeth I was so broke I could barely afford to feed her, let alone get her teething toys so," she shrugged, "Lilah used my finger as her teething toy until my counselors from the girls home got some stuff to us," she fixed her gaze on baby Judith, "That feels so much better, doesn't it, little ass kicker?"

Beth grinned, "Hey I'm going to help daddy, are you two okay?"

"Oh absolutely," Harper promised, "I've got this down."

"Thanks," Beth turned around and rushed down the stairs.

"Yeah, we're okay," Harper whispered before carrying the baby into the cell again. She sat down with the baby and gently swayed her in her arms, back and forth. She was so focused on the baby that she didn't hear feet coming up the stairs until a person stopped in front of her room, blocking out the sunlight. Harper looked up, saw Daryl watching them, and then looked back down to Judith.

"Why is your finger in 'er mouth?" Daryl asked, an almost accusing tone in his voice.

"She needs a teething toy," Harper answered, "This is as good as we've got."

"Oh," he was quiet in his response.

"Is there a reason you're standing there and watching us?" Harper's voice carried a tone of annoyance but she kept it light and almost musical.

"I was hopin' we were gon' talk," Daryl told her.

"I have nothing to say," Harper said simply, not daring to take her gaze off the baby, who was beginning to fall asleep.

"Oh so that's how it's gon' be?" he asked.

"We were comforting each other, that's all it was."

"Oh please, you were all o'er me like a cat in heat."

"Don't flatter yourself, Daryl." Harper got to her feet and shouldered him out of the way so she could carry the baby to her crib.

"Don't flatter yourself? Really?"

She turned around after setting Judith down and put her hands on her hips, "Daryl I said I wasn't here to relive the past or anything. I'm here for my daughter and that is it. I've got no interest in being in a relationship, I just can't allow that into my life."

Harper began to walk past him but his hand landed on her shoulder and he pulled her around, a bit rougher than he intended, to look at him. She violently pulled away from him and shoved him away from her, "Don't fucking touch me." The scar on her shoulder, that no one except Carol (who had seen it in the showers earlier) knew about, was throbbing.

"One minute you're actin' like all you want is to be touched and the next, you're cussing at me and shovin' me around?" He glared at her, "Fine, I'll leave ya to it. Enjoy it, ya flip flopping psycho."

Harper watched him turn around and take off down the stairs and listened as the bar door slammed shut, the sound causing a ricochet affect throughout the room as it bounced between the stone walls. She watched him go before sinking to the floor, beside the crib, gripping the painful scar that would always serve of a reminder of the night her father had cut her with a broken beer bottle. She had run away that night to the ER and told them she had fallen on a broken window, they had stitched it up and called her father. He arrived, played the concerned parent, and when they were sent home, Harper spent the weekend locked in her room. After all of these years her father's abuse was haunting her, in some way or form.

"What are you so moody about?" Carol asked when she saw Daryl enter the yard.

"That damn-" he saw Lilah and faltered, "Woman I took in," he mouthed to Carol.

Carol frowned and got up to walk away from the others so she could find out from Daryl what had happened now.

"You didn't confront her about earlier, did you?" Carol asked him in a firm, but kind voice.

Daryl stared, "How do you know about that?"

"Because the poor girl had a nervous break down and I found her in the showers," Carol said, "I had to piece together what happened."

He made a face, "I though' she wanted it."

"Daryl do you know she hasn't been with anyone since Lilah's father?" Carol put her hands on her hips, "And even then that wasn't a relationship? She's had no experience. Men terrify her. They either hurt her or leave her, or both. They treat her like she's crazy because she has unresolved pain from her childhood and they run off."

Daryl's words came back to haunt him, why in the Hell had he called her a psycho? Before he could respond, Carol continued, "She's literally had consensual sex once and look how that turned out for her. Any other time, her fathers friends were molesting her!"

"She told you all that?" Daryl asked, quietly.

"Yes, she needed to get it off her chest earlier," Carol crossed her arms, "Never mind the times Merle tried to screw around with her."

He looked at Carol then, "What in the Hell does that mean?"

Carol sighed, "Daryl your brother was not pure like snow, like you like to think."

"He died tryin' to do the right thin'."

"I know that and I'm sorry but before all of that, when he was hanging around her father, he would come into her room and say things to her and make her feel even worse. Right now, until she works all of it out in her head, when she is upset like this and stuck in the past, you remind her of that. She is stuck seeing you as Merle Dixon's little brother and Merle absolutely terrified her."

"God damn," Daryl ran a hand through his hair, "All I ever wanted was to keep an eye on her. As a kid she had no one and I failed her. Then she got in that girls home and I had my own issues. Then she left and I couldn't be there for her in Atlanta. She was all on her own," he sighed.

"Her whole life she's been on her own and what she probably needs is you, but you can't force yourself into her life like that, no matter what."

"Carol, what should I do?" His voice was quiet and he sounded almost broken, obviously at a low and desperate point, because Carol was quite sure she had never heard or seen Daryl like this.

"Give her space and she'll come around, that's all you can do."

"I'm gon' go and finish skinnin' those squirrels," was all he could say, "May as well do somethin'."

"Thank you Daryl," Carol smiled at him.

–

The next morning Harper went to Rick, "Look I was looking through my things last night and I think I left something back at the cabin," she began, "I need to go back to see if it is there."

"Okay," Rick took a step back to think about the situation, "Well I'll send someone with you, Daryl perhaps?"

She quickly shook her head, "No I just want to go and do it by myself. I'll be fine," Harper saw the look on Rick's face and sighed, "I swear I'll be fine. I was on my own with Lilah for well over a year before y'all found me."

"If you aren't back by tonight I'll send a group out, okay?" Rick asked.

"That's fine, but I'll be back," she answered.

"Okay, be careful," Rick warned.

Harper walked to her car and climbed in, her gun and knife sitting on the seat before her. Rick walked down to the gate to open it for her and she took off down the path, kicking up a cloud of dust behind her as she drove. She hadn't really left anything at the cabin, they had scoured the place clean, Harper just needed to get away from everyone else. This was the first time since the outbreak that she was able to leave Lilah with people she trusted and thus, the first time she could get away just on her own.

The summer was turning out to be another hot one, so she sped down the highway with the windows rolled down. At the speed she was going, it didn't take her long to find the strip of stores where she and Daryl had been just a week earlier. The grocery store parking lot was vacant of walkers, so she pulled in and parked in front of the liquor store. Her eyes scanned the area before grabbing her knife, and gun, and getting out of the vehicle.

She was in an out in five minutes, a bottle of old whiskey in hand, and she climbed back into the car and headed off down the highway once more. Harper found the path to the woods and the cabin easily and she quietly pulled in, rolled all of the windows up, and headed deep into the woods to the temporary home she had shared with her daughter. On the way she only met two walkers, which she used her knife to get rid of, not seeing a reason to alert more with gun shots.

The cabin was still boarded up when she arrived, just as they had left it, so it was empty when she removed the latches from the front door. Little streams of light peaked in through the boards on the windows and she sat down on the bed in the corner, her eyes resting on the bottle of liquor in front of her. Because of the role alcohol had played in her upbringing, she had never been exactly fond of the substance. She hardly touched it in school and never allowed it in the apartment where Lilah may see it and get the wrong idea.

The amber liquid frightened her but she wondered now if she had been wrong about it all along. Maybe there was some reason everyone went to it for comfort when nothing else worked. Her hands were shaking as she reached for the bottle and she carefully unscrewed the cap and brought the glass bottle to her lips.

–

"Where is Harper?"

"She went to the cabin, said she was missing something. Left first thing," Rick called down to Carol.

"She go by herself?" Carol frowned.

"She kinda insisted on it," he walked down from his post on the guard tower and met Carol at the base, "I didn't want to let her go but she seemed insist ant."

Carol sighed, "She wasn't missing anything."

"How do you know?" Rick frowned.

"She and Daryl had a fight yesterday and," Carol shrugged, "I think she left to get some space from him."

"Who left to get space from who?"

They turned to see Glenn and Maggie had just walked up, clearly on a mission to ask Rick something else, but they came in at the wrong time.

Carol wiped the back of her hand over her brow, "Harper went to the cabin to, I think, get some space from Daryl."

"Yeah you know he seemed huffier than usual when they got back yesterday," Maggie began, "I just assumed it was Daryl being Daryl. Did they fight?"

"Sorta," Carol shook her head, "Harper has a lot of pent up issues from her childhood that she has never worked out and I think they are all coming after her all at once because being with Daryl reminds her of that time."

"Well should we go after her, or what?" Glenn asked.

"Go after who?"

They all turned this time to see Daryl had walked up now, clearly wondering what the four people had been discussing. Carol glanced at the others and sighed, "Harper took off first thing this morning."

"She did what?" Daryl swore, "You go and tell me yesterday she ain't right in the head right now and y'all let her drive off on her own?!"

Carol frowned, "Daryl I never said she wasn't right in the head. I said she needed space and was working through a lot of issues."

"Yeah perfect, let her go off on her own. Then we can have another Sophia on our hands, or Andrea, or T-Dog," Daryl turned around and stormed off, heading for his bag upstairs. He grabbed his crossbow, holstered a gun, and before the others could say another word, he was back outside and heading for his bike.

"Daryl, do you really think it should be you?" Carol asked, running after him.

"Yeah, 'cuz despite everythin' in the last twenty-four hours, I still know her better than any of y'all. Besides, I caused this so it needs to be me to fix it." He climbed onto his bike, "I'll be back."

For the second time that day, Rick found himself opening the gate for someone who was in a hot hell of a hurry to get out of the prison gates. He stood there with Carol, Glenn, and Maggie, watching as Daryl's bike kicked up a cloud of dust and he disappeared into the storm of it.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Maggie asked the question everyone was thinking.

"They've gotta fix whatever they have," Carol sighed, "It's all up to them, now."

**xx**

**A/N- Whoooo. Popping out more chapters. I have a lot swirling in my brain right now but I want to get it to my computer as quickly as possible because school starts on Monday and I know I'll be crazy busy. Keep the positive reviews and such coming! **


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is rated M, for pure and total smut.**

**xx**

Chapter 6

"We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout!" a voice carried through the cabin and outside. Daryl walked quietly through the woods, following the sound of Harper's voice. He was surprised that no walkers had surrounded the cabin and he only had to take out one on his way up the front steps.

Harper stopped singing the minute she heard boots on the wooden stairs, "Who is outside?" she called, her voice calm and steady.

"It's me," was all Daryl said.

She opened the door a moment later and eyed him warily, "What do you want?"

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yeah whatever," she stepped to the side, "Not like I can call the police."

Daryl closed and latched the door behind him, his eyes swept the room and landed on the bottle of whiskey, which he noticed with surprise, had barely been touched.

"Are you okay?" he asked, unsure.

Harper sat down on the bed, "Yeah, why?"

"Well you disappeared, told a lie to Rick," Daryl shrugged, "And then yesterday."

"Daryl," she began, carefully choosing her words, "Do you want to know why I reacted the way I did when you touched my shoulder?"

He set his crossbow down and sat down in the chair that was in the other corner, "Yes I do."

Harper was careful to un-do the buttons on her yellow plaid shirt. Under it all she wore was a white tank top and Daryl's eyes instantly fell on the jagged scar that ran from her collar bone to the shoulder.

"What is that?" he asked, uncertain he wanted to know.

"That is where my daddy thought he would be funny and use a broken beer bottle on me one night." She eyed the scar warily, "And sometimes it can be a little sensitive. So you grabbed me yesterday and practically dug your fingers into my flesh and you made the entire thing inflamed and hurt me. Suddenly, I was back at that night. My dad grabbing me as I tried to walk away, and him using the bottle on me. That was the night before I planted the porn on his computer."

Daryl's eyes were still looking at the scar and then he was standing up and he pulled his shirt off to show her the lacerations on his back. Harper's eyes took in each one and then looked at him, "Your dad?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

"Sometimes I forget that I am not the only one who went through all of this," Harper wrapped her arms around herself and sighed, "I wish we had been closer in age, maybe it would've been easier to deal with."

Daryl sat down beside her, "I wish I could've done more when I was growin' up, to help you. When I'd come by the house I'd try an' check on ya but after that day when you were nine, and I took you home, your dad didn' trust me. It was like he thought I was gon' steal ya."

"Daryl, you know I had a crush on you when I was little?" She gave him a sad look as the memories came back, "I crushed on you because I knew what you were trying to do. Then I turned fifteen and I didn't see you again until I was seventeen, that day on the highway. I spent so much time being angry at you because you stopped checking on me. Stopped coming by the house, stopped driving by the high school," her eyes fixed onto the ground, "And just as soon as you were in my life, you were gone again because I ran off to college."

"I never meant to make you think I didn' care," he said, giving her an honest look, "My brother had run off and I went to find him. When I found 'im, we spent the time driving around Georgia and dicking around."

"For two years?" she gave him a look.

"Well we'd make trips down to the Keys," he shrugged.

Harper looked away again, "Ancient history I guess."

"I'm sorry that I hurt you yesterday," he said quietly, "And I'm sorry if you felt pressured. I don't want ya thinking I want you to do somethin' you don't wanna do."

"Daryl, I don't know how to do any of this stuff. I used to avoid it like the plague. I spent my entire childhood living in the unknown and now we live in the unknown and a relationship just adds another factor to that whole unknown world, thing."

"Well Harper you gotta realize somethin' about relationships, they're all about the unknown."

She shook her head, "Hand me that whiskey."

He carefully handed her the bottle and she took a swig, "Here," she handed it back to him.

Daryl couldn't help but smile before taking a sip of the drink, "Damn, that is good."

"Is it?" she asked, "I just grabbed the first thing I saw on the shelf."

He nodded, "Very good."

"If I wanted to kiss you and not go any farther," she began slowly, "Would you be okay with that?"

Daryl turned sharply and gave her a look, "Yeah."

She stared at him for a few minutes and then leaned in to him, turning her body to face him, and she pushed her lips against his. Daryl carefully set the bottle down on the floor, being careful to not break the kiss, and then he kicked his boots off before pulling himself up onto the bed fully. Harper's body moved with his, being sure to not lose his lips. As the kiss went on, she found she wanted more, like a thirst that couldn't be quenched, no matter how hard they tried. His arms opened and he gently pulled her into an embrace, holding her lightly.

His bare skin made her uncovered flesh feel like it was on fire and before they knew it, he was on his back and she was on top of him, and that was when Harper finally broke the kiss. The only sound in the quiet cabin was their heavy breathing. Ever so gently, Daryl reached up to tuck a piece of her loose hair behind her ear.

"That okay?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, that was nice."

They were silent for a moment and just as soon as Harper pressed her lips to his again, she pulled away, feeling the bulge in his pants pressing against her leg.

Daryl realized what was wrong and swore, "I'm sorry." He pulled himself up into a sitting position and Harper sat back on her feet.

"No I'm sorry I guess," she faltered, "My fault for thinking we could just kiss and not elicit a uh, reaction."

He couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped, "Yeah that is one way to put it."

Harper blushed, "Can we continue or is it going to be a hindrance?"

He fixed her with a look, "It isn't going to make you uncomfortable?"

Instead of replying Harper climbed into his lap again and pushed her lips to his. A low growl emitted from the back of Daryl's throat when he realized her hands was reaching for his belt.

"I want you to show me what is so great about this," she whispered, "I want to feel good for the first time in my life."

Daryl looked at her, "Are you sure?"

Harper nodded, "Yes, we may not have a tomorrow and I want you to make me feel alive."

They stared at each other for a moment and then his lips were on hers again and his hands were gently on her hips and then they slipped under the thin top, touching the silk skin the same way he had done the day before, as if it were a precious gem and he was afraid to take the shine away. There was a snap and he knew she had gotten the belt and button on his jeans undone. She leaned her body into his and he could have sworn she was purposely grinding against him.

In a quick flash he had pulled the tank top off of her body and he broke the kiss to take in the sight of her body. Her face flushed red, instantly feeling embarrassed.

"Hey," he said gently, carefully pulling her face up to look at him, "You're beautiful."

"This one," she began, pointing to a scar on her side, "Was where he hit me with his belt until I bled."

Daryl eyed the scar and then he was making Harper lay down on her back and this time he was on top of her. His calloused fingers rubbed over the scar gently and then he pressed his lips to the wound, which caused her stomach to flutter. He stayed in that spot for half an hour, locating parts on her body that she was self conscious about, blemishes and scars that were signs of an abusive childhood, but they seemed to heal under his gaze and gentle caress.

Her hands reached up to remove the black bra she was wearing and Harper dropped it on the floor with their now abandoned shirts. His eyes took in the sight of her and he gently kissed his way up her abdomen and then each breast, then her collar bone, jaw line, and his lips found hers once more just as one of his hands gently cupped her right breast. A moan rose from the back of her throat that was muffled by the kiss and he couldn't help but smile against her mouth, thinking he must be doing something right.

His hands then left her body and found the waistline of her jeans and he began to slip the jeans down around her thighs, to her ankles, and Harper kicked them off to the floor. Daryl's finger hooked around the waistband of the black panties that matched her already discarded bra, and then they joined the mess of clothes on the floor. He sat back on his legs, just taking in the sight of her body and when he found the scars from her C-section, he leaned down and kissed those as well.

Harper's heart was racing as she watched Daryl gradually move farther down her body and she thought it would exploded out of her chest when one hand gripped her leg and the other hand ever so gently slipped a finger inside of her. She clutched the bed frame and gasped aloud at the sensation, not quite sure what to make of the entire thing. Daryl was slow and gentle as he moved his finger in and out of her.

"That okay?" he asked, but his voice was thick and it almost came out as a growl.

"It's great," she whimpered.

Then his head went down and she felt his tongue on her sensitive bundle of nerves and this time she let out the moan she had been trying to suppress. "Oh God," she whispered.

When he was sure Harper could handle it, he pushed a second finger into her and her entire body shook as she clenched down on him. He continued to push in and out, faster and then slower until finally she said, "Daryl, I can't handle it much longer."

At her words he sat up and looked at her, making sure she was watching as he licked his fingers clean. Harper let out an exasperated moan and then she was leading and she was sitting up and pushing his jeans down around his thighs, to his ankles, and then they were on the floor. The last article of clothing was removed and her eyes fixed on him before her.

"I'ma go slow," he promised.

She barely heard him and simply nodded her head. Harper laid back into the bed and her hands were reaching for him, wanting to kiss him again. Their lips met briefly and then he broke the kiss when her hand grabbed for him and she slowly guided him to her entrance. Their gaze met briefly and then he ever so slowly, pushed into her.

She whimpered as he stretched her open and he refused to move as he watched her.

"You okay?"

Harper gave a brief nod, "It's been eight years," she reminded him, "Just gotta get used to it."

"You didn't have toys?" he inquired.

She shook her head, "No, not really."

Daryl nodded, "Just let me know when you're ready."

Her hands reached for him again and she brought him back to her, their lips being shoved against each other and then she moved her hips to let him know she was okay. Daryl went slow, almost too slow for Harper to handle as he began to pull out and then push himself back into her, as far as he could go. Harper's fingers buried themselves in his thick hair and she moaned as he broke the kiss and moved his lips down to her neck. They were awkward at first, it had been a long time for both of them, but eventually the couple found a rhythm and he gradually increased his speed, urged to go faster whenever she clenched around him.

Daryl quickly pulled himself up into a sitting position and he pulled Harper up with him, her legs wrapped around his waist as he continued thrusting into her, never missing a beat of their now perfect pattern. His green eyes met with her brown eyes as they watched each other.

"Daryl," she breathed out, "I can't go for much longer."

He kept one arm wrapped around her waist protectively and then his other hand reached down to the space between them and he pressed a finger down onto her nerves and he quickly began to push and rub her. Her eyes closed and he thrusted himself into her one, two, three more times before she clenched around him so tightly, Daryl thought he may see stars, and then she let go and she quickly began to move her hips faster, riding out the orgasm as he joined her, her cries echoed around the small cabin.

There was total silence in the cabin when they were done. A bird made a noise outside and the only the noise the couple made was their breathing. Harper buried her face into the crook of his neck and lazily kissed the skin, while she clung to him. Daryl was slow to move and when he finally did, he merely laid down on his side, pulling Harper with him.

"You okay?" he finally asked, after what seemed like an eternity.

She nodded, "Yeah and you?"

He kissed her, "I'm great," was all he said before pulling her closer to him.

They stayed like that, holding each other and touching each other. Harper completely opened her heart to him, telling him the few good memories she had of when her mom was alive, how sh felt when she found out she was pregnant, and that she hoped one day he would know what it was like to feel so completely whole and proud of an achievement like creating another human being.

"The perfect part of me," she told him, smiling.

Daryl allowed himself to be vulnerable and he opened up in return, telling her about the first time he killed an animal and how it was the only time his dad had ever said he could do something right. He told her the exact details about the scars on his back and how he had almost killed Merle when they were reunited, because he had been so angry that Merle had left him behind. He told her about his despair over losing Sophia, how he had injured himself on his own arrow, and he was practically shaking with emotion when he told her, in details, about Merle's death and what it had done to him. Harper even felt tears in her eyes as she listened, despite a lifetime of hating Merle Dixon.

When he was finished, he reached for the bottle of whiskey, took a swig and then handed it to Harper, who took a drink and when she was done, she kissed him. Their tongues swirled around against each others, tasting of whiskey, and while Daryl's mouth had a saltier taste, Harper's had a sweet berry like taste. She climbed on top of him and took him inside of her for the second time that night, and when they were spent, they fell asleep in each others arms, at peace with one another for a few short hours.

–

**A/N- Please please be nice in your words. I usually try to stay away from writing smut because it tends to be difficult for me...so be nice but honest. Kay? **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

They awoke the next morning to a loud knocking on the door.

"Daryl? Harper?" Rick's voice called through the wooden door, "Look, we just want to make sure you're okay."

Daryl disentangled himself from Harper and he pulled on his jeans before going to the door. He unlatched it, opened it a crack, and slipped outside.

"Hey," he greeted, squinting as the bright morning sun threatened to blind him.

"Harper inside with you?" Rick asked.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah sorry, we fell asleep. Didn' mean ta," he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Everything okay?"

"Well except for Lilah has been having a fit for her mother all night long."

Rick's voice came across almost judging and Daryl picked up on it, "Hey she doesn't need your shit," Daryl told him.

Rick fixed him with a look, "We came out here to make sure y'all were okay. I'll head back to the prison and tell them you're fine. Hurry back soon," he cast a glance to the door and then stepped off the porch steps, where he fell into a brisk walk with Glenn.

Daryl watched them go and then slipped back into the cabin, to find Harper already putting her clothes back on, "I can't believe we slept here all night," she said, her voice frantic, "I have never been away from Lilah this long. She must be so upset."

Daryl grabbed his shirt off the floor, "Rick is just being an ass."

"No, he was right," Harper grabbed her boots and pushed her feet into them, "I shouldn't have left her. I shouldn't have run off like that."

Daryl grabbed her wrist gently, "Yeah well, I wouldn' have been able to make you holler like you did, if we were back at the prison."

She smiled and leaned in for a kiss but it was brief, her mind still on getting back to her daughter, "True but we can't fall asleep like that again."

"Alright, you're right," he laced up his boots and grabbed his cross bow.

As they walked out of the cabin, staying close to each other, Daryl asked, "How ya feel this morning, by the way?"

Harper shrugged, "A little sore, which I expected. That's about it."

He smirked to himself, "It's not such a terrible thing though, is it?"

She thought about her answer carefully before saying, "With the right person it isn't bad at all."

Daryl grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. They parted ways at the van and she waited until she heard his bike rev up and they left, heading up the highway back to the prison. Harper was barely out of the car in the prison yard when Lilah came tearing out of the jail and threw herself at her mother.

"I thought you were gone," she cried, "And Mr. Daryl, you didn't come back."

Harper sat down beside the car and held her daughter, "Oh baby I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she murmured.

Daryl eyed the two and he could tell from the look that Harper was giving him, that he needed to give them space. He walked off towards the jail and stopped when Carol came out of the gated entry, in her arms was baby Judith, who seemed to be enjoying Carol's finger as a teething toy.

"Did you two work things out?" Carol asked him.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah, we should be fine now."

Carol smiled at him, "Take care of her, Daryl."

He nodded his head again and then walked inside the jail to check in with the others.

"I won't leave you like that again, baby. Momma just needed some quiet time to think and by the time Mr. Daryl got out there to check on me, it was too dark for us to risk traveling the roads. Okay?"

Lilah nodded and used the back of her hand to wipe her runny nose. Her eyes were red and watery, "I missed you."

Harper held her daughter tighter, "I missed you too, baby girl."

After a few minutes, Harper stood up with her daughter in her arms, and headed inside.

"Hi guys," she greeted to everyone in the room.

"You feeling better?" Hershel asked her gently.

Harper nodded, "Loads. I just had to go someplace private to think. Thank you for looking after her."

She carried her daughter through the room and up the stairs, her eyes fell on Daryl who was bent over his corner of things, he was rummaging through his bag, looking for something clean to wear. He looked over at them when he heard Lilah murmur something to her mother.

"Hi princess," he said, in greeting to the little girl.

"Hi Mr. Daryl," Lilah's voice was heavy with exhaustion from crying.

"She needs a nap," Harper told him, "Usually does after crying like that."

She carried her daughter into the cell and placed Lilah on the top bunk, "Get some rest and I'll be right downstairs or helping with the gardens if you need me, okay?"

"Yes momma," Lilah said.

Harper watched her for a moment and then she grabbed her own change of clothes and walked out of the cell to where Daryl was waiting, "She's out like a light."

He nodded, "Well I am going to go get a shower."

She raised an eyebrow, "Not if I get there first."

Daryl stepped closer to her, "That a challenge?"

Harper stuck her tongue out at him, leaned in for a quick kiss, and then she was taking off down the stairs before he could even react.

–

After that first day back, it was easier for Harper to get along with everyone. She took her place among the group, taking the night watches with Daryl, gardening in the morning with Carol and Beth, hunting in the afternoon with Daryl, and then sleeping in the evenings before it was time to start the watch again. They got themselves into a routine and everyone noticed the change in both of them. Everyone sort of assumed they were seeing each other, but they never voiced it, assuming they would announce themselves when they were ready.

The first two months of the summer went by with no incidents. There was no sign of the Governor and that gave them time to continue their reinforcements of the gates and to gather up their stock of food and supplies. Judith was finally given a teething toy that wasn't someone's finger.

It was one of the last days of July when Harper and Daryl had gone off on a run for supplies and the heat had been torture, but they took the bike regardless. They had been gone for several hours, taking the time for the run as some time to be together. When they arrived back, Carl greeted them at the gates, "We picked up a straggler today," he told them.

Daryl raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Carl nodded eagerly, "Yeah, he said he's been living up in the mountains and came back down. Noticed us working in the yards and killed a few walkers in his attempts to talk to us."

Harper glanced at Daryl then to Carl, "Well I guess we should meet this guy."

Daryl kicked the bike back up and rode it up the path to the yard.

"Seems a bit odd, don't you think?" He asked as he helped her off the bike.

Harper shrugged, "I mean, surely there are other survivors. Just because we don't go looking for them, doesn't mean they aren't there."

Daryl grabbed the backpack from Harper, "This didn't hurt your shoulder today, did it?"

She smiled, "No Daryl, I'm fine."

He held the bag in one hand and was about to give her a quick kiss when Carl came running up, "Come on and come meet him!" Carl said.

Harper laughed, "Later," she mouthed to Daryl before climbing the stairs behind Carl.

The door to the prison opened and it revealed everyone was seated at the two tables around the stranger. Carol looked up at the appearance of Harper, "Oh there you are!" she greeted.

"Hi," Harper was smiling as Daryl took his place beside her.

The stranger turned around in his seat from where he had been having a conversation with Rick and his eyes locked with Harper's.

"Well, I'll be God damned," he said, in amazement.

It took barely a second for Harper to realize who she was seeing and then she began to shake her head, "No, no, no, you can't be here."

It took Daryl longer to see what was upsetting her and then he saw that grin, the horrible grin that Earl Jefferson used to take on whenever he was drunk or about to hustle you out of something. Daryl dropped the bag and pulled his crossbow off his back before anyone could think, "I oughta kill you where you stand," he said.

"What the hell is going on?" Rick asked, clearly perplexed.

Beth walked around the table and up the stairs to Harper, "What is it?" she asked, gently.

"What're the chances," Earl began to say, "That I come down from the mountains, find people livin' in my old prison, which when I saw it last, it was overrun, and find not only Merle Dixon's baby brother but my own daughter?"

Everyone stared at Earl and suddenly they understood. Harper made comments, basically implying to the adults in the prison that she had been horribly abused. They all knew bits and pieces of the story.

"You're gon' leave now," Daryl snarled, "'Fore I put an arrow in yer damn head."

"Momma?" Lilah entered the room just then, wiping sleep from her hands.

Earl's gaze turned to look at the little girl and his horrible grin grew wider, "You have a kid, Harper?"

Lilah looked at the man, "Hi!" she greeted, clearly unaware of all of the tensions in the room, "I'm Lilah, Harper is my mommy."

"Well lil one, I'm-"

But no one found out what Earl was about to say because Harper had forced herself out of her shell and rushed down the stairs. She scooped her daughter up into her arms, "Don't you dare come near her," she said, pulling her own gun out of the holster, "Get the hell away from me, you stupid piece of shit."

Carol came over, "Harper, let me take Lilah," she whispered quietly.

Harper handed her daughter over to Carol, but she never tore her gaze from her father.

"You ain't gon' use that. You was always too scared to ever fight back," Earl laughed, "Never could write your old dad in jail and then ya were off to college and 'prolly spread your legs for the first piece of shit who said he loved you. Then look what happened."

"Carol," Harper's voice was shaking, "Take her out of here. She doesn't need to hear this."

"Alright can we all put the weapons down?" Hershel asked, "It isn't making anything better."

"We're not taking him in," Harper said immediately, "I won't have this piece of shit around my daughter."

"You call yourself a mother? You proved to be nothing but a God damn whore, just like your whore mother," Earl whispered.

Harper handed her gun to Beth, who was closest to her, and she quickly brought her fist up to punch her father, squarely in the nose. He tumbled back and it was Rick who caught him before he could fall onto the cement floor. Daryl was by her side in a flash, his crossbow still aimed at Earl, "She's right," he told Rick, "That piece of shit ain't staying here. Feed him to the damn walkers." He stood partially in front of Harper to protect her, as if he was serving as a barrier between father and daughter.

"Everyone needs to put their damn weapons away," Rick shouted, "You aren't helping, Daryl."

"This isn't up for debate!" Daryl shouted back, "Do you know what he did to her?"

Harper's hand was clutching Daryl's arm and he could feel her shaking beside him.

"Always the baby Dixon who came to defend my daughter. Now if I didn't know any better," Earl began, holding a cloth to his bleeding nose, "I'd say Harper found another man that she's spread her legs for." His gaze moved towards Harper, "Did he say he loved you? Does he whisper sweet nothings in your ears at night? Holdin' you close and saying bullshit? He only wants one thing from ya."

"Shut up!" Harper screamed, her eyes welling with tears, "You can't control me anymore! You can't hurt me!" She wanted to run but she was afraid to be away from Daryl.

"Earl, why are you here?" Daryl growled, still hiding Harper with his body.

"Well as I told them," he began, "Came down to find supplies and saw people here. This is the prison I lived in when I was locked up for my porn charges."

"Yeah Rick," Harper said, "He had kiddy porn. Boys and girls on his computer, you really want that around your son and daughter?"

Rick eyed Early warily but said nothing as Earl retorted, "Oh you know God damn well that you planted that porn on my computer."

"Maybe, but when they tracked how many times the files had been opened, they had been opened an awful lot. You knew it was there and you looked at it," Harper was crying harder than before, "I'll kill you before I allow you near my daughter."

"You're gon' leave," Daryl began, "Go back to the hell hole you crawled from and you're gon' stay there."

"Daryl, Harper," Rick began, "Take a walk. I'll see what he wants and deal with it."

Daryl looked at Rick, "You're gon' listen to 'im?"

"I said I will deal with it," Rick said.

Harper stared at Rick in disbelief and then she turned, grabbed her gun from Beth, holstered it and took off running. Daryl aimed his crossbow at Earl's head as he walked backwards, following Harper. When he was sure Earl wasn't going to try to follow, he turned around and took off outside to find Harper.

"She headed to the showers," Carol said, when Daryl came outside.

"I wanna go see momma!" Lilah cried.

"Just give us a few minutes, princess," Daryl told the child before taking off after Harper.

He found her in the shower room, throwing things around the room. The shelf they had brought from a home goods store, that had been turned into the shelf for their shower things, was now on the floor. Bars of soap were shattered, towels on the floor, and a table overturned.

"Harper, it's me," Daryl said as he entered the room.

Harper's eyes fell on him and she rushed over to him, her arms went around him and she began to cry into his arms.

"I thought he was dead," she sobbed, "I hoped and prayed he had died."

Daryl held her tightly, "I know baby," he whispered, "I know." He slid down to the ground, pulling Harper with him, and he held her as close as he possibly could, "He ain't gon' come near you. I'll kill 'im before he comes near you or Lilah."

"As long as Rick allows him to walk out of here alive and he knows I'm here, he'll have control over me. He won't stay away and you know that," she sobbed.

"We can leave," he offered, "You, me, Lilah. We'll go to the cabin or something."

Harper shook her head, "He wants me to run and that'll give him more power." She looked up into his eyes, "I want him dead, once and for all."

**xx**

**A/N- Well, you didn't see that coming, did you? **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"We'll give you a few things and then you need to go ahead and leave," Rick said. He was leaning against a wall, eying Early warily.

Mr. Jefferson was about to respond when the door opened and Daryl walked in. He scowled at the sight of Earl still in the room.

"Oh, came back to join us?" Earl asked, "Did the little psycho push you away from her too?"

Daryl walked down the steps, "I came to get something for her and Lilah," he said, to no one in particular, but his eyes were on Rick and Hershel.

"What I wan' know is, why can't I see my granddaughter? She's my blood," Earl said.

Daryl looked at Earl, "There is nothing of you in that child. She is pure and innocent, and if I see you even look at her sideways, I'll cut your damn eyes out. Our friend Michonne told me of a great way to do it."

"You can't stop me from showin' an interest," Earl said, "What's it like being with a whore who already has a kid?"

Daryl's nostrils flared and he grabbed Earl by the collar, but before he could assault the man further, he felt arms wrap around him and pull him back.

"Daryl, he isn't worth it," Glenn urged.

Michonne had stayed silent during almost the entire meeting with Earl Jefferson but now she spoke, "You call her a whore one more time and you won't have to worry about Rick and Glenn keeping Daryl off of you. I'll cut your dick off and shove it down your throat."

"Michonne, you aren't helping!" Hershel shouted.

"Why is he still here?" Daryl asked, pulling himself loose of Glenn's grip.

"We were about to send him on before you came in here," Rick said.

Daryl glared at him, "He's been here too damn long as it is."

No one said anything else and Daryl pushed through into the inner cell block. He grabbed the rifle that Harper had told him was hidden beneath her bed and then he grabbed Lilah's shoes, which she had left inside when she had gotten up. The conversation downstairs ceased when he crossed through the room again and this time when he left, Michonne followed.

"Whatever you're planning on doing," she said once they were outside, "I want to help."

Daryl looked at Michonne, "Harper is going to take this gun and put a bullet in his head."

Michonne nodded, "I've seen the scars on her arms and shoulders, when we work outside. Those from him?"

Daryl was hesitant and then he nodded, "Her entire childhood, 'til he was arrested, all he did was beat on her. I couldn' help her then, but I'm helpin' her now. Rick has no business entertaining the idea of helpin' him."

"He was hoping if we gave him some stuff, he'll take it and leave us alone," Michonne offered, "I think it's a stupid idea."

"As long as Earl knows she's 'ere, he'll never leave her alone."

"I figured as much," Michonne said, "Need me to do anything?"

"Just, keep an eye on 'im." Daryl paused, "Take these to Lilah and make sure she stays inside."

"Where is she?" Michonne took the boots.

"Helpin' Carol clean up the shower room," Daryl said, "I've gotta go. If he tries to come near that child, don't hesitate to do him harm."

Michonne nodded and headed down to to the shower room. Daryl watched her go and then climbed up to the guard tower, where Harper was sitting on the floor, waiting.

She jumped to her feet when Daryl entered the room and she quickly threw her arms around him, "Oh God, I was so scared. What took you?"

"I found myself nearly doin' the task myself," he said, he looked down into her eyes and brushed the loose strands of hair out of her face, "Are you sure you can do this?"

Her hands were shaking and she grasped Daryl's arms to steady herself, "I have to."

He nodded, because he knew Harper needed to do this, she was never going to get past it and they would never be able to move on if he didn't help her to do this. "Lilah is in the showers helping Carol clean up," he began, "Michonne wanted nothing to do with Earl and whatever he and Rick are doing, so she is stayin' in the shower room and keepin' an eye on 'em."

Harper reached up and kissed him, "Thank you."

His hands cupped her face, holding her to him for longer than he should have, but he wanted to be sure she knew how much she meant to him. When they finally parted, some of the life that Daryl had fought to restore to Harper's eyes, had started to shine through the fear and heartache.

"Here's the rifle," he said, handing it to her.

Harper took the weapon and checked to make sure the safety was off and then took her position at the window that they had cracked open. They stood in silence for a long time and then finally, the prison doors opened, and Rick was walking with Earl down to the gates of the prison. Rick didn't follow him down the path, which Harper was grateful for as she lined her father up in her sights. Her finger was hovering over the trigger when she saw Earl stop in his tracks. He turned around and then she saw him looking directly in her sights, and in the scope she saw him smile, tip his hat to her, and blow a kiss in her direction.

The color drained from Harper's face and the gun fumbled from her hands and to her feet. She stepped back in shock and then she looked to Daryl, who was watching her, "Do you want me to do it?" He asked.

Harper quickly shook her head and pulled herself into the corner of the room, "I...I can't," she buried her face into her hands, "He looked at me and I couldn't do it. How did he know I was up here?"

Daryl picked up the rifle, turned the safety off, set his crossbow down, and then he sat down beside her, "He must've seen the barrel of the gun stickin' out the window," he sighed and took her hand into his, "I don't know what to tell ya."

"He's gonna come back," she murmured, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I know," Daryl wrapped an arm around her, "Next time he ain't gon' get within five feet of you or Lilah."

–

"What happened up there?" Michonne whispered as Daryl and Harper stepped out of the stairway to the guard tower.

"Momma!" Lilah cried as she ran across the yard to her mother.

"Hi baby," Harper said as she dropped to take her child into her arms.

"He uh," Daryl scratched the back of his neck, "He saw her or somethin'. Wasn't expecting it and she lost her nerve."

"I need to lay down," Harper said, standing up, "I've gotta get out of this heat."

Michonne and Daryl both looked at Harper and he nodded, "Yeah, of course."

Harper set her daughter down and took Daryl's hand, leaning on him for support, everyone in the jail watched as the two entered the building, but no one dared to say a word to the couple. He lead her up the stairs and helped her to sit down on the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed and held her hand limply.

"Please don't leave me," she whimpered.

He turned to look at her and ever so slowly he pulled her shoes off of her feet and then he kicked his own shoes off. A few days before he had attached a spare blanket in front of the door to provide some sense of privacy, so he pulled the blanket down, drenching them in darkness, and he climbed in the bed beside her. Daryl's arms wrapped around her protectively and she clutched at his shirt as she began to cry again.

That night was the first night in two months that the nightmares returned.

"Harper," Daryl hissed.

She whimpered in her sleep and thrashed, "Please daddy," she sobbed, "Please don't do it."

"Harper," Daryl shook her and then her eyes opened and her hand shot out to smack Daryl as a reflex from the dream.

"Harper!" Daryl shouted, he reached around for the flashlight and turned it onto his face so that she could see it was him.

"Oh Daryl," Harper began to cry, "I'm so sorry."

"Momma?" They heard a quiet voice from the bunk above them and Daryl quickly got off the bed and stood up to check on Lilah, "What's up Princess?"

"Is momma okay?" Lilah asked, her voice was heavy and her eyes were barely opened, but they had clearly woken her up.

"Your momma is fine, she had a bad dream is all." Daryl brushed blonde hair out of the child's face, "Try to go back ta sleep."

"Okay," Lilah rolled over and again she was asleep.

Daryl took his place beside Harper again, "Come here," he whispered.

Harper moved closer to him and her head rested on his chest, the rhythmic thumping of his heart was already making her feel better. "I'm sorry I slapped you," she said through her tears.

"It's okay, baby," he pressed his lips to her temple, "You're okay."

–

Harper didn't really leave the prison for the first few days after her father's visit. She stayed inside, helping Hershel with the cooking, or folding laundry whenever Carol and Beth brought in a fresh load. Her regular hunting schedule and night watch schedule was put on hold and those were the only times Daryl was not by her side. She began to notice that people acted like they were walking around broken glass whenever they were in the same room and finally, almost a week after her father was there, she threw down the towel that had been in her hands, "I can't deal with this anymore!" she shouted.

Everyone stopped to look at her and Daryl carefully reached for her hand, "Baby, what is it?"

Harper looked at him and sighed, "I have to get out of here. I can't handle everyone treating me like I'm a broken doll."

"Harper no one-" he began.

"Yes they are, you know they are!" She cried.

Daryl looked around at the others who had been watching the two and they quickly made to look busy with something else. His eyes fell back on Harper, "What do ya wanna do?"

"Can we go out?" She whispered, pleading with her eyes.

He nodded, "Yeah, go get your things and we'll go."

Harper would've kissed him right there but she stopped herself when she remembered everyone was still in the room, instead she clutched his arm and took off to the room that they were now practically sharing. She put on her boots and grabbed her weapons and a few moments later, she was back at Daryl's side.

"We'll be back in a bit, honey," she told Lilah, "I promise."

Lilah nodded, "Okay, mommy."

The two hugged and then Harper cast a wary look to the others in the room and her hand latched with Daryl's and the two walked out of the room together.

–

Within the hour, Harper and Daryl had found themselves deep into woods they hadn't gone hunting in before. They were about twenty miles away from the camp and completely alone.

"I'm sorry for my outburst," Harper said as she let lose another arrow into the direction of a squirrel.

Daryl looked over at her, "You're okay to react or respond however you want or need to. Trust me, they were all startin' to piss me off too."

"I just felt like walking around like I'm a shattered doll just made things worse," she picked up the dead animal, pulled the arrow out, and tossed the squirrel into a bag, "Daryl, when is my life ever going to be okay? When will I ever been content to just live out my days beside you and raise my daughter?"

Daryl walked over to her, "We're gon' kill that son of a bitch and then we can finally have our peace. Live out our days, hunting, killing walkers, lovin' Lilah and lovin' each other."

Her eyes searched his face, "You love me?" she asked him.

Daryl smiled at her, "That ain't obvious enough?"

"It's been so long, I dunno what love even looks like," Harper pulled her hair back, "How do I even know it?"

He leaned in and pressed his lips to her, causing her to smirk as his stubble scratched her chin, "You need to shave," she mumbled against his lips.

"I don't have time," he replied, "Always got these two girls pulling my attention away."

"Two?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he kissed her, "You and that little girl."

"Lilah worships you, you know."

"And I worship her," he said, "She's perfect."

Harper leaned into him for another kiss, her arms wrapping around Daryl and his own went around her. They held each other close and soon Harper felt her back pushed up against a tree and Daryl's lips trailed down to her neck. She moaned aloud and her breath hitched when his hands slipped under her shirt. Somewhere she saw the sense of the situation, "Daryl," she whispered.

"Mmm?" he asked, his lips were still glued to her neck.

"You know maybe it wouldn't be best to do this out in the open," Harper swore as he gently bit her collar bone, "I mean just because of walkers and you know, my psychopathic father."

Then he stopped and he looked at her, "You're right."

He turned to look around, keeping an eye out for any Walkers and was just walking away when Harper went to his side, "I think I love you too," she whispered.

He turned to look at her, "Ya sure?"

She nodded, "Pretty sure."

Daryl smiled at her, the smile that she knew was only meant for her, and Harper smiled back, "Come on, let's see if we can find a deer."

"Yeah," he scoffed, "Okay then."

The goal for weeks was to find a deer and so far it had only been squirrels and rabbits, but he hoped that the Harper that had begun to heal was somewhere trying to come back out, because the Harper that was broken by her father's re-appearance would not go as far as to hope again for something like a deer.

–

That night, when Harper awoke from her nightmares, Daryl was prepared for it and already sitting up in a chair beside the bed. When Harper saw it was only him, he rejoined her, whispering comforts into her ears, and gently rubbing circles into her back. This went on for weeks and it took it's toll on the couple and their emotional well being but Daryl was determined to bring his Harper back.

–

"Hey," Harper pulled her coat closer to her as she climbed up to the watch station where Daryl had been sitting. The late September air was settling in and Daryl had given her his coat while her old one hung up to dry, in truth he thought she looked quite comical because the coat hung on her tiny frame, but he didn't dare to tell her that he thought she looked funny.

"Hey," Daryl greeted and he stretched out his arm to take her hand. Harper took his large hand in her own and he pulled her down to him. Gently he kissed her and smiled, "Whatcha need?"

"Well," she paused, "You actually."

"Me for what?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

Harper looked around to make sure that they were indeed alone outside and her hands reached down for his jeans and grabbed him.

Daryl let out a gasp of shock, "Jesus woman," he managed to say, his voice hoarse.

"Think we can slip away to the cabin later?" Harper asked.

He shook his head, "Why don't we just drive the van out and do it there?"

She playfully hit his arm, "God, my boyfriend the romantic."

"Alright," Daryl shook his head, "I can't fight ya."

"Okay but I am gonna head out and take blankets and stuff, so the bed isn't as bad as last time. So meet me out there when the watch is over."

Daryl was quick to voice his complaint, "I don' want you out there alone."

"Daryl, it's for like half an hour. I'll be fine," she kissed him quickly, "Besides, I'll take the shotgun."

"Just, be careful. Be aware of your surroundin's, okay?"

She smiled again, "I promise, I will be fine."

Daryl pulled her close to him quickly and pressed a fierce kiss on her lips and Harper felt herself unwinding in his arms until they heard a, "Hey you two, can you actually watch for walkers instead of sucking each others faces off?"

Harper broke the kiss to see Maggie looking up at them, a playful smile on her face, "Oh you're just jealous!" she shouted as she quickly got to her feet.

"What do I have to be jealous about?" Daryl heard Maggie retort.

Harper was by Maggie's side in a heart beat, "Because Daryl is," she whispered something into Maggie's ear, and he was pretty sure he had an idea what, which simply made him snort with laughter, especially at the sound Maggie made and the face she had when she turned back to look at him. He simply waved at her.

–

**A/N- Thoughts? I had actually written this chapter way different but I decided to go this route...Also, pretty soon, I'm going to have a playlist for this story, linked on my page if you like that kinda stuff. :) Please remember to review! **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

There was a loud clap of thunder as Daryl rolled off of Harper, "Shit," he whispered.

Harper's breathing was heavy as her body settled. She had been fighting her demons since first thing that morning and she had hoped getting away with Daryl would help her, in truth it only helped her a bit, but it was still the best she had felt since her fathers visit to the jail.

"You okay?" Daryl asked, looking to her.

She turned her head and nodded, "I haven't felt this good since," her words dropped off and Daryl quickly kissed her so she wouldn't dare to finish the sentence.

There was another loud clap of thunder and Daryl broke the kiss to look up towards the ceiling, the sound of falling rain followed, "Shit," he got to his feet and peeked through cracks in the door, "I knew we shoulda come in the same car."

Harper sighed, "You think it's gonna be bad?"

"Well at the very least, we can't travel in this," he turned and began to pull on his jeans, "I gotta cover up the bike."

Harper frowned, "You're going out in this?"

He leaned down to her and kissed her, "I gotta, it's not good for the thing to get left out in a storm like this."

"Just," she sighed, "Be careful, it's bad enough Lilah is going to kill us for staying out again."

He smirked, "Oh I wonder where she gets the attitude from."

Harper hit him on the arm, "Hurry up!"

"Alright, I'm goin'!" he slipped his feet into his boots, grabbed his crossbow, and took off.

Harper stayed in bed for awhile, content to listen to the sounds of the rain fall. She was just beginning to worry about what was taking Daryl so long, when she heard boots on the front step. She wrapped herself up in the sheet and walked over to the door, "It's about time," she declared, opening the door.

Her eyes glimpsed her father briefly and then he smacked her across the face, the force of which sent her across the room, "See what I mean? Nothin' but a damn whore."

Harper tried to sit up, her body still in shock from the attack, "Where's Daryl?" she asked, she felt sick when she saw his crossbow in her fathers hand.

"Oh lover boy is fine, tied up with yer people carrier."

The sheet slipped from her body and Harper quickly moved to cover up her exposed body, "It's downright disgustin' how much yer like yer momma," Earl snarled.

Harper looked at him, "What does that even mean?"

"Yer momma slept around," he shook his head, "You ain't my kid, yer nothin' but the product of her being a God damn whore, and you've followed in her footsteps."

She stared at him, "How do you know I'm not yours? And," Harper pulled herself into a siting position, her eyes briefly scanning the room for her gun, it was just under the bed, "You're one to talk about being a slut, you screwed around on momma all the time."

"The minute I found your momma and that mechanic who lived next door, I shoulda kicked her to the streets. Then she found out she was pregnant and we didn' know who you belonged ta. I kept ya and I should've chucked you both out," he shook his head, "Gentle heart, me."

Harper laughed, "Gentle heart? Is that what you tell yourself at night?"

He rushed over and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to her feet, "I'm here to do what I shoulda done, when you was a screamin' baby."

"Oh, are you going to kill me?" Harper asked him, "You've been killing me slowly for as long as I can remember. You've left Daryl to the walkers so you've killed one more thing that matters to me, so what is my death going to achieve? My daughter will be cared for and Michonne will kill you before you ever get close to my child, so what can you really take from me? My life? Just do it," she spit in his face, "Just fucking do it"

Earl's eyes flashed a horrible shade of anger and he threw Harper into the wall and she tumbled to the ground once more, her head making a loud crack sound with the nightstand.

"You stupid bitch!" he screamed, "You deserve it!"

Harper's hand reached around to hold her head and she felt a wet and sticky substance, blood covered her hands and her eyes began to cross. She looked anywhere but at her father and her eyes fell on the gun, if she could just move a few more inches. Oh how she wished Daryl would walk in the door and end it for her, the thought of moving anymore caused her head to spin.

"How did you escape?" her voice was hoarse, "You never did say why you weren't in the prison, that day."

Earl frowned, "I was in a bus on my way back from my parole hearin', we were stuck in the pileup on the highway."

Harper shuddered, thinking how close she had been to her father that night, and slowly she inched her body closer to the bed.

"And I went back for my friends."

"Oh, how considerate of you," she snapped.

"I don't need your god damn sarcastic remarks!" There was a long silence and then, "And I saw the prison was overrun, so I got in a car and drove up to tha mountains. Your step mother was dead and so I moved from place to place."

Harper's fingers clasped around the handle of the gun and the she quickly swung herself into a sitting position and aimed the gun, with surprising accuracy she thought, because her head was spinning, "I'm going to end this now," she managed to say, "You can't torment me any longer."

"You won't do it," Earl challenged.

"Oh yeah?" Harper forced herself to stand up, no longer caring about her modesty and the sheet pooled around her feet, "Try me," and she pulled the trigger.

–

Daryl was struggling with the ropes around his wrists, a walker was about fifteen feet away from him, and approaching quickly.

"Stupid fuckin' redneck," he hissed.

He couldn't believe Earl had snuck up on him like that, he was Daryl Dixon, and nothing got past his attention like that. When the Walker got to close, he swung his leg up and kicked the creature back, which bought him a few extra minutes.

He pulled at the ropes, waiting for them to break free, and then finally, he felt the thin material give and his hands were loose. He reached for his knife, that was hidden within his boot, and he quickly began to cut at the ropes that attached him to the tree. A gunshot rang out through the woods and then another loud clap of thunder.

"Harper!" He screamed through the storm.

His ropes came loose and just as the walker was on him, Daryl rammed the knife into the creatures head. He killed another walker and then took off running to the cabin. It felt like a lifetime, but at long last he found his way again and rushed up the front steps. Earl was laying on the floor of the cabin, dead in a pool of his own blood. Daryl stared at the corpse and then his eyes fell on Harper who was naked in the corner, slumped against the desk.

"Daryl?" her voice was weak.

"Harper, I'm here." Daryl was by her side in a heart beat, "What happened?"

"Baby," she choked out, "My head is bleeding and I'm so sleepy."

"No, you can't do that," Daryl ordered, "You can't."

"We need Hershel," she whispered.

"You gotta stay awake for me, okay?"

Harper gave a jerk of the head and wrapped an arm around Daryl's neck. He grabbed his crossbow off the floor, the keys to the van off the desk, he pulled the cabin door shut, and took off to the car as fast as he could. The drive to the prison went by in a blur, he sped down the highway and had to keep shouting at Harper to stay awake. When they finally made it back he honked the horn frantically.

"What is it?" Carol rushed outside, "Open the gates!" She shouted down to Rick, who had seen the headlights and was already rushing down the now muddy path.

Daryl sped up the path, splashing Rick with mud, but not stopping to notice. Carol opened the car door and looked at the naked form of Harper, "Daryl, what happened?!" she cried.

"Her father found us," Daryl rushed to the passenger seat, "Run in and get Lilah upstairs she don't need ta see her momma like this."

Carol didn't need to be told twice and she rushed back into the prison. Glenn was by Daryl's side a moment later with a blanket that Carol had shouted at him to take outside.

"Harper, keep your eyes open, we're almost there," Daryl pleaded.

She moaned in pain and Daryl swore as he carried Harper inside the prison. Upstairs they could hear Lilah crying for her mother.

"Lilah?" Harper groaned, "Where is my baby?"

"She's upstairs," Daryl told her, "She's with Carol."

"What the Hell happened?" Rick asked, as he came inside. He took a towel from Maggie and quickly wiped the mud off of him before moving to help Hershel clear a space for Harper.

"We were in the cabin when the storm started," Daryl was careful to set Harper down, "And I went to cover up the bike. Her piece of shit father caught me by surprise and tied me up. I reckon they had a fight and she hit 'er head on the table, but she won. When I got free and back to her, she was slumped in the corner, and Earl was dead."

"She has a pretty nasty gash on the back of her head," Hershel agreed.

"Daryl," Carol appeared in the doorway, "If she can't have her mother, Lilah is begging for you."

Daryl looked at Carol, "What? I can't leave Harper right now."

"Daryl," Hershel looked at him, "I have to tend to her to ensure she doesn't fall asleep. You being here is a distraction to me. Carol can help me and you need to go take care of that child."

Daryl stared in disbelief, "Oh Hell no, I am stayin' with 'er."

"Daryl!" Michonne interjected, "Harper is in capable hands. Go, care for Lilah."

He stared at her and then kicked a table over in his anger, but he left the room all the same.

"Daryl!" Lilah was crying at the top of the stairs with Beth, "Where's momma?"

Daryl climbed the stairs and picked up the child, "She's downstairs being looked at, she's gon' be okay."

Lilah buried her face into Daryl's shirt and Daryl carefully laid down with the child, not daring to let her go, for fear of Lilah trying to leave him as well. After a few minutes, they were both asleep in Daryl and Harper's bed, both were too exhausted to stay up any further, and Daryl couldn't really blame the eight year old child.

Xx

A/N- a short-ish chapter...thoughts? Please please please review.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_"Congratulations, Miss. Jefferson. It is a healthy baby girl." _

_ Harper forced herself to sit up, the effort was exhausting, but she had to see her little baby. The nurses carefully handed her a bundle of pink blankets and she smiled down at the baby. Her face was pink and wrinkly, like she had always been told newborns looked, and where the child had been screaming just a moment before, she had calmed in her mothers arms. _

_ "Have you named her yet?" a nurse asked gently._

_ Harper looked at the nurse then quickly back to her baby, "I haven't really thought it through," she laughed, "I had nine months but with school," she shrugged,"I was never able to focus on one name."_

_ "Well there is no rush," the nurse offered, "You just love on that baby and in the meantime, we want you to try and nurse, okay?" _

_ Harper looked at the woman, "What if I mess it up?" _

_ The nurse laughed, "Oh darling, you do not know how many times I hear first time mothers say that." _

_ Harper didn't seem convinced but she kept her words to herself as the nurses assisted her in uncovering her breast and she carefully brought the baby up to her. At first the little baby didn't react and Harper was about to comment on the fact, but then she felt gums biting down on her and the baby began to suck the milk from her mother. _

_ "Oh my God," Harper breathed, "That's incredible!" _

_ "See, the baby knows how to do all of the rest, you just have to give her the tools," the __nurse smiled. _

_ "I've always liked the name Lilah," Harper said suddenly, "Do you think that is a good name?" _

_ "Lilah is a darling name for a little girl." _

_ Harper looked down at her daughter, "Hi Lilah," she whispered, "Momma is always going to protect you. I'll always be here for you and I promise I'll never hurt you." _

–

Harper stirred, her head was spinning and she felt like she was sick. Her eyes opened and she looked around the room, taking in the surroundings. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, she couldn't remember the last time her mouth had been that dry. Her hand reached for the metal table beside her and she hit her hand on the leg to get Hershel's attention.

He turned around from where he had been cleaning the needle he had used to give the young woman stitches and his eyes lit up, "Welcome back, Harper."

"Water?" she barely managed to get out.

Hershel grabbed up his crutches and was by the girls side in an instant, carefully pouring out water and she began to guzzle it.

"Better?"

Harper nodded, "Much," she looked around the room, "Where is everyone?"

"Well, Rick passed out around three with Judith. Carol and Beth are asleep while Glenn and Maggie take watch. Michonne went for a walk about an hour ago so I assume she is here somewhere," Hershel smiled, "And last I heard Daryl was asleep with Lilah upstairs."

Harper released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, "What happened?"

"Well Daryl was a little wild with the story, he was pretty torn up about you," Hershel sat down beside her, "Rick explained it that you two got caught off guard by your father, he tied Daryl up, and you two had a fight and you killed him. Somehow Daryl got loose and he found you on the verge of passing out. You had a pretty nasty gash on your head."

Harper nodded slowly as the words sunk in, "I hit my head on the nightstand," she agreed, "And my gun was under the bed."

Hershel frowned, noticing she was getting upset, "It's okay just take a deep breath and try to get some rest."

Harper sighed, "Can you get Daryl? I just need to see him, I was afraid I'd never see him again."

Hershel nodded, "Just give me a moment."

She watched him wobble away and heard low whispers just in the doorway. A bed creaked and she heard someone climbing the stairs. Hershel appeared a moment later, "Carol went to get him and I will leave you in his capable hands."

"Thank you Hershel," she bit her lip and added, "For everything."

"Don't worry about it," he gave her a kind smile and then disappeared.

Carol was quiet as she entered the cell and she couldn't help but stop at the sight before her. Daryl was tangled up in the sheets and Lilah was curled into his arms, fast asleep with her head resting on one of Daryl's muscular arms. Daryl murmured a curse in his sleep and Carol couldn't help but smile at him. She hoped in that moment that Daryl had finally found the family he had always wanted and deserved and knew that Lilah would be lucky if she was ever able to call Daryl her father.

Ever so gently she reached over to him, "Daryl?" Carol whispered, gently shaking his arm, "Daryl."

There was a grunt that came from Daryl and no further response, he simply turned over, a protective arm wrapping around the child beside him.

"Daryl," Carol said again.

He groaned, "Go'way, Carol."

"Daryl, Harper is awake and asking for you."

There was a moment of silence and then Daryl turned back and looked at her through heavy eyes, "Wha?"

"Harper is awake and asking for you," Carol repeated.

Daryl looked at Lilah and ever so carefully, he pulled his arm out from under the child. He sat up and pulled a blanket over her small body and he quickly followed Carol downstairs. He practically ran into the room where Harper was laying and he felt his heart jump at the sight of her looking at him.

"Oh God," he whispered and he was by her side in an instant, and to Harper's surprise, he had tears in his eyes.

"Hi darling," she said through her hoarse voice.

Daryl dropped to his knees at her bedside and grabbed her hand, "You scared tha shit outta me."

"You scared me too," she told him, "I was so afraid that he had finally taken the one thing I can't live without."

"I'm sorry, I never shoulda left you," he pressed his lips to her hand, "That motherfucker came up from behind like the fuckin' coward he is. When I woke up, I was tied up, he was gone, and somehow I got free."

"I heard his boots on the porch," Harper sighed, "And I thought he was you." She looked away, "And he hit me and said so many horrible things to me."

"Whatever it was, it ain't true," he said quickly.

"He said my momma was a whore and that I'm just like her and he was convinced my whole life that I wasn't his," Harper looked at him, "And apparently that was his reasoning for the life he has given me."

Daryl was quiet for a long time, "I'd rather hope you weren't his."

She nodded, "If it means I'm not connected to him through blood, I agree."

"Are ya okay?" he asked after a long time.

Harper looked at him and shook her head, "Not really."

"Well," Daryl kissed her on the forehead, "I'll be here to help ya."

"Is Lilah okay?" she asked next.

He nodded, "They kicked both of us outta here when Hershel was fixin' ya up. She's asleep in our bed."

"I'm sure she was angry," Harper had the ghost of a smile on her face as she thought about it.

"Yeah, she was," Daryl smiled back, "Definitely yours."

"You know," she began slowly, "I was thinking about the day she was born. I was so scared and so alone," Harper sighed, "And I always wanted that child to have the kind of daddy she deserves and one that deserves her. I want her to have a man in her life who will love her the way I wanted to be loved growing up," she quickly blinked away tears, "Daryl, I hate myself that she isn't yours. I wish she was, oh God, how I wish Lilah had your blood and strength running through her."

Daryl was quiet for a long time and finally, instead of replying, he simply kissed her on the nose, "Harper, ya can't hate yourself for somethin' beyond your control."

She sighed, "I know, it's just hard."

"Baby, ya need to rest."

Harper held his hand, "Please, don't leave me."

"I ain't goin' nowhere," he promised.

She nodded, as if affirming in her head what he had said, and slowly Harper's eyes fell shut. Daryl stayed by her side, watching her chest gently rise and fall, hoping to guard her from the terrors that attacked her at night, and he swore he would always be there to protect her from the terrors of the day. Eventually, his head came to rest by her hand, his grip never failing through the night hours.

–

**xx**

**A/N- this was a very short chapter, I know. School started this week and I have been busy with that and hanging out with friends and stuff...so please be kind and review. Love ya! **


	11. Chapter 11

"How are you feeling today?"

Harper was standing in the doorway, watching Daryl and Lilah practicing her archery. The child had gotten better over the weeks and ever since the incident with her mother, which had already been close to a month, Lilah's skill had doubled. Harper stayed close to Daryl but she had been too anxious about leaving the safe confines of the prison and so her anxieties only tripled when he went hunting, and on top of everything else, she seemed to have come down with something and Harper was constantly fighting an upset stomach, which was something that she was trying to hide from everyone. Finally, after a long moment of silence, she turned to look at an expectant Rick, "I'm doing okay."

There had been two weeks of tension between Rick and Daryl after her accident and despite her momentary surge of anger, Harper didn't stay angry at Rick. She knew he had no insight to the situation with her father and thus, there was no way he could know that he had been doing more harm than good.

"That's good," Rick seemed to be trying to make small talk for the sake of making small talk, and Harper honestly had no idea where he was going with any of it.

Harper sighed and headed back inside, moving back to where Carol was sorting through a pile of clothes.

"What is your sewing skill?" Carol asked as she watched Harper sit down.

"Uhm," Harper shrugged, "I can fix buttons and that was just from online tutorials I watched."

"Well same basic premise, you think you can help me stitch up the holes in these shirts?"

"It's easy," Beth promised, smiling at Harper, "Almost just like putting a button on."

"Well, I can try," Harper offered.

She was slow to work and her stitches were haphazard on the shirts that belonged to Daryl that she was trying to fix, but she knew he honestly wouldn't care about jagged stitches. She was just tying off the thread on the first shirt, when her illness struck, "Oh God," she groaned, quickly putting her head down between her legs.

"Are you okay?" Carol asked, concern quickly spreading over her features.

"I'm fine," Harper said, "I've just been sick on and off since," she stammered, "Since my dad." She threw down the old shirt of Daryl's and quickly took off to her cell.

It was easy for her to get through the day as long as the incident in the cabin wasn't brought up, but Harper had backed herself into a wall, by trying to explain away something that she had no explanation for. Her father's death haunted her, because despite everything, there was some tiny little nagging feeling of guilt. She had just gotten up the stairs when she bent over and threw up.

"Fuck," she whispered, quickly wiping sweat away from her brow.

"Harper?" Michonne came out of her cell, where she had been resting after a night of watch.

Harper looked up at her friend, "Yeah?"

"You okay?" Michonne eyed the puddle of sick.

Harper wiped her mouth, "Yeah just," she sighed, "Don't mention it to Daryl, he'll worry and worrying makes him irritable."

"You go and lay down," Michonne said, sensing a deeper fear beneath Harper's nervous face, but she said nothing about it, "I'll clean up the mess."

Harper nodded, "Thank you."

She disappeared into her room and rested her face against the cool cement wall. She had a horrible feeling about the truth of what was wrong with her, but Harper refused to voice it, and she certainly was not going to tell Daryl. But there had been a night, probably that night in the cabin, where they had gotten so anxious, they had forgotten to use protection. She was so caught up in her thoughts, that she didn't hear anyone climb up the stairs, let alone the loud thud of Daryl's boots.

It wasn't until he had come in the room and attempted to wrap his arms around her, that she had noticed him. Her reflexes took over before she could realize who it was, and she quickly elbowed him in the stomach.

"What the fuck, Harper?" he asked, his arms holding his stomach as he doubled over in pain.

Harper whirled around and swore, "Oh God, I'm sorry!" Her eyes welled up with tears, she had been so on edge about her fears of pregnancy and the haunting images of her father, that she had reacted as if her father had just been there. "I started thinking about that night and," she sat down on the floor and pulled herself into the corner, "Oh God, I can't stop thinking about it."

Daryl watched his girlfriend, the woman he loved, and when he saw her in pain like this, he quickly forgot his own, and moved over to the corner where she was curled up, "Come 'ere," he said gently.

Harper pulled him to her, "Oh God, I just want it all to be over. The nightmares, the panic attacks, sickness, everything."

Daryl held her tightly, "You can't rush it, Harper."

"I am done being broken!" she shouted.

"Harper ya can't-"

"Daryl!" she shouted, cutting him off.

"What?" He pulled away from her, only enough to see her face.

She stared at the man in front of her, searching his features and she shook her head, "Nothing," Harper quickly pulled herself from his embrace, "Nothing."

"Harper," Daryl protested, "Tell me what is going on."

She got to her feet, "I just can't deal with this, it is too much."

"What is too much?"

"I need to get some air," Harper shrugged.

"Okay, I'll go with you," Daryl knew that by "air" she meant, out of the prison.

She shook her head, "No I'll uh, I'll see if Michonne will go with me."

"Harper, what the fuck?" Daryl was frowning, she was practically clinging to him whenever he wasn't on duty, and now she wanted to be away from him?

Harper left the room and quickly went to find Michonne before Daryl could even react.

"I need to go make a run and I need you to go with me," she said, her voice shaking when she finally found the woman outside.

"Why don't you go with Daryl?" Michonne asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just," Harper sighed, "I need to do something without him."

Michonne was silent, quietly assessing the situation, and then finally she nodded, "I'll go tell Rick."

There was a long moment of Harper waiting and she wished she had grabbed her coat, but she wasn't going back inside now. She made sure to tell Lilah she would be back in an hour and then finally, Michonne appeared. Weapons in hand and Harper's leather jacket, "Thought you might want this."

"You are awesome," Harper slipped her arms into it and instantly felt a little bit better. She may be avoiding Daryl, but leather reminded her of him, and this tiny little comfort calmed her nerves.

"Let's go," Michonne said, after a few minutes.

Harper followed her friend to the pickup truck and the two women took off down the driveway, where Carl opened the gate for them.

"So are you going to tell me what this is about?" Michonne asked

"Do I have to?" Harper responded, her voice nervous once more.

"No, but since I am risking my life for this I feel I should know," Michonne gave her a look.

"I think I might be pregnant," Harper sighed, "And it is one thing to reminisce and say how desperately Daryl and I wish Lilah was his but it is another thing to actually have a child in this world. I mean, it literally killed Lori."

"If you are, what can you do about it? What will you do?" Michonne was gentle with the question.

Harper shrugged, "Try and have it and pray I don't die," she blinked away tears, "I'm afraid Daryl is going to flip his shit."

"I would be surprised if he did," Michonne commented, "Daryl can be a hot headed, ignorant, ass hole but if there is one thing he can do, it's be gentle and loving to kids."

"I guess," Harper sighed.

The rest of the drive into town was a quiet and long one, but finally at long last, they found the local pharmacy and Michonne even offered to go in while Harper waited in the car. It only took five minutes and only one walker approached her as she exited the store, which Michonne was able to quickly behead. She climbed into the car and handed the box to her friend and they were silent for a long time as Harper turned the box over in her hands.

"Do you wanna do it here or back at the prison?" Michonne finally asked.

Harper shrugged, "Probably out here I guess. There's no privacy at the prison."

"You can go behind the building I guess," Michonne shrugged, "I'll cover you from walkers."

So they climbed out of the car and Harper went behind the pharmacy, carefully opening the test. When she was done, the women returned to the car, and waited in silence. When the time was up, Harper's hands were shaking as she turned the test over in her hands.

"What does it say?" Michonne asked, gently.

"Fuck," Harper whispered, "It's positive."

–

"What the fuck?" Daryl was pacing back and forth, having taken the afternoon shift, which Carol had joined him for, "I understand her not wantin' me t'come up behind 'er like I did, that was fuckin' stupid but come on. What gives?"

Carol shrugged, "I don't know Daryl, one minute she was fine and then she started feeling sick and her father got brought up and she took off upstairs."

"God damn it," he shouted.

Carol glanced around nervously, "Daryl, you need to stop. You're making everyone talk and you're scaring Lilah."

Daryl had been about to protest but the thought of Lilah being upset or scared of him made him stop in his tracks, "I can't do this," he shook his head, "I dunno know how to make her better when I'm all fucked up myself."

"Daryl, you have been a lot better since you let her into your life," Carol began, carefully choosing her words, "You healed me when I lost everything I had ever known, if you can help me, just a friend, you can help the woman you love."

"I'm fucking useless if she don't let me in on her thoughts," he pointed out.

"You are many things Daryl, but you aren't useless. Don't ever call yourself that again, okay?" Carol had her hands on her hips as she said it, "I mean it."

He stood there for a long time and instead of continuing to argue with Carol, he turned his attention back to the watch duty, but he was watching the road more than he was watching the walkers. What was the solution to the situation with Harper? How was he ever going to be able to bring her back from her demons, when he had fought so hard to heal her before. But then it was hunting, killing geeks, and sleeping together that had brought her to him. Now she was afraid to go hunting in the woods, let alone go outside of the confines of the prison to kill geeks, and there was definitely nothing going on between the two of them physically, because there was no privacy at the prison.

When at long last, he saw the car on the highway, Daryl called down to Beth and Carl, for them to go and open the gates. He waited until the car had pulled into the yard before he descended the stairs to greet them. When the car door open, Harper gave him one look, her eyes were red and he knew she had been crying. Before he could react, she had thrown her arms around him, "I'm sorry," she cried, "I am so sorry."

Daryl was clearly perplexed but he wrapped an arm around her regardless, "Where ya been?"

"Daryl," she said quietly, "I need to talk to you."

He stared at her, picking up on the tone in her voice, "Okay."

Her hand slipped into his and Harper pulled him along down to the shower rooms, which was the only place she could think of would provide them with privacy.

"Harper," he began, "I'm sorry about before," he looked down, not daring to look Harper in the eyes.

"Don't be sorry," she said quietly, "It was my fault."

"What is going on? This is all more than just yer dad," this time he said the words and looked at her.

"Daryl," her eyes welled up with tears, "Fuck Daryl, here," she shoved the pregnancy test at him and she slid to the ground, pulling herself into a ball as she cried into her arms.

"Wha tha fuck?" he stared at her and then looked at the white stick in his hand, there was a clatter as the pregnancy test fell to the floor and Daryl just stayed still, not quite daring to believe what he had just seen.

There was a long stretch of time where neither spoke. Daryl stared at the fallen stick and Harper cried into her arms and finally, at long last, Daryl said, "But how? We haven't," his words fell off.

"I've been sick since the cabin but I blamed everything that happened with Earl," Harper raised her tear stain face to look at Daryl, "I just don't know how far along I am or anything."

There was another stretch of silence and then, "That night when we didn' have a condom."

Harper nodded, "Lack of proper birth control tends to do it," she sniffed into her arm.

Daryl swore and kicked over a table, "Fuckin' hell!"

She jumped in shock, "Daryl, what are we gonna do?"

"It's a baby," Daryl shook his head, "How we gon' raise a baby?"

Harper shrugged, "I guess we've been okay with Judith but," she shook her head, "Lori died in childbirth because she needed a C-Section and I could go the same way."

Daryl stared at her, "I can't do this," he said and then he was gone.

Harper stayed totally still, in a state of shock as he left her alone in the room. It was the first time since she had started seeing Daryl that he had left her to deal with her emotions on her own. He was usually so involved and concerned, that the action now felt like she had just been struck.

Hours passed and Harper stayed in the corner, until at last, she heard a door open and to her immense surprise, it was Rick. He didn't look at her as if he had been searching her out at all, instead he simply looked confused.

"What are you doin'?" he asked slowly.

Harper shrugged, "I dunno anymore."

"Lilah was asking about you," Rick wasn't sure what he had just come in on, "We didn't see Daryl around, so we assumed you two had gone off to work through whatever."

"Rick, I'm gonna have a baby," she said quietly, "And I'm absolutely petrified about having a child in this world."

The news had clearly shocked Rick but he seemed to be able to shake himself out of it and he came to sit down on the floor beside Harper, "How did Daryl handle it?"

"Well," Harper shifted and brushed a tear away, "Do you see him around?"

"Right," Rick looked down at his hands, "I understand how y'all feel, probably better than anyone."

"You lost Lori because of a pregnancy in a world where there is no medicine," Harper sighed, "I dunno how you did it."

"Guess you have to look at it this way," Rick was slow with his words as he carefully thought it through, "Our world went thousands of years without modern medicine and sure, it's hard but we're still here."

Harper sighed, "Lilah was never planned and this child was certainly not planned, I just don't know what we're going to do. Daryl took off without a word to me which says to me that he is just as scared as I am but," she trailed off, her words dying in her throat.

"I'd say to just give 'im some time to digest it all," Rick sighed, "Having a baby in this world is definitely hard but you know we're survived alright so far with Judith and Daryl will go to the ends of the Earth for you, Lilah, and this baby."

"I hope you're right Rick," Harper said quietly.

"I am right," he got to his feet, "Now come on, you need to head inside and have some supper."

Harper followed him outside, her eyes instantly glancing up to scan the night sky. She felt a pang in her chest for the comfort of Daryl's arms but she wasn't sure if or when she would see him. She climbed the steps into the prison and was instantly greeted by her daughter's arms being thrown around her.

"Hi momma!" Lilah greeted.

Harper bent down to pick her daughter up, "Hi baby girl."

"Where have you been?!" Lilah asked.

"Just thinking," Harper kissed her daughter on the cheek and a quick scan of the room told her that Daryl was nowhere to be found.

"We kept some soup warm for you," Hershel told Harper, "Bethy, fix a bowl please."

"Yes daddy," Beth smiled and got to her feet.

Harper ate in her soup in a contemplative silence. Everyone seemed aware that something had happened between her and Daryl, but only Michonne and Rick were aware of what that was. When she carried Lilah off to bed, her daughter asked for a bedtime story like usual, and Harper was glad to tell one until her little girl fell asleep. She settled into the bed herself and despite the sheer exhaustion that Harper was experiencing, she stared at the doorway all night long, waiting for Daryl to pull back the curtain, strip down to his boxers, and climb into the bed beside her, all while whispering loving and comforting words. That was the first night since they had begun sleeping together, that Harper spent a night without Daryl at her side.

**Xx **

**A/N- Alright so I took awhile with this because I wasn't really sure if this was the direction I actually wanted to take this...but I think the whole concept is interesting enough...if I can do it properly. I apologize for the delay...just between school and actually making friends...I've had a LIFE. It's amazing. Anyways I have started re-watching The Walking Dead because I have no life...and tonight's episode was "Tell it to the Frogs" so I was inspired to start working on this chapter. Please be kind. Give me your thoughts, etc. **

**Lots of love, me. **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Ooh boy, ya sure fucked up this time little brother."

"I don't need yer damn judgment."

"Not judging, simply statin' a fact," Merle laughed, "Ya'd think that in a world like this, getting' a girl knocked up would be tha last of yer issues."

"Shut up Merle, I don't need your opinion," Daryl stared down at the glass of whiskey in his hands, "Just leave me alone."

"That's just it, Daryl, you are alone."

Daryl looked up and saw that he was indeed alone. Merle was still gone and not for thee'd first time since his brother death, Daryl felt himself on the brink of slipping into such a dark world of loneliness, that he questioned if he'd ever surface. He quickly pulled his mind from the dark corners and began to focus on Harper and their baby. The idea of being a dad had always appealed to him but he never dared to think that he'd ever be lucky enough. In his eyes, he was too fucked up to be able to actually be a good father and that was the biggest fear he was having right now.

Harper was everything he had ever wanted in a woman and he still found himself questioning why she would want him. They had found each other trough bizarre circumstances and he often though about if the world hadn't ended, if they would have ever come together; reason told him absolutely not; Harper had been happy and content in Atlanta, living a life away from their small town bull shit. Daryl couldn't help but wonder if Harper would be better off if he hadn't come back into her life and she certainly wouldn't be facing a pregnancy that they would never be equipped to deal with.

"Tha fuck am I gon' do?" he whispered aloud, shaking his head as he brought the bottle of whiskey to his lips.

"What you've always done, be a good man and take care of your responsibilities."

Daryl jumped up from his seat, knocking a chair over in the process, purely from the sheer shock of the appearance of Rick in the doorway. "What the fuck?" Daryl asked, his eyes wide in disbelief, "How in the Hell did ya find me?"

"Well," Rick slowly approached and sat down at the bar, "I said to myself, 'What would I do if I was Daryl?' and I thought maybe you'd gone hunting so I searched your usual spots and when that turned up fruitless, I figured I'd come into town to see if you had gone to find some liquor."

"Terrifyin' that you figured all that out," Daryl returned to his seat, "Ya want some?" He looked at Rick and offered him the bottle.

Rick shook his head, "Nah, someone has to be sober enough to drive back."

"I dunno if I can go back," he shook his head, "Dunno if I can face 'er."

"Daryl, Harper needs you right now and she needs you desperately. When I left the prison this morning, she hadn't gotten outta bed and everyone is worried about her. Michonne and I are the only ones who know but it is only a matter of time and when it comes out she and that little girl are gonna need you."

"Rick, I don' know how to do all this," Daryl sighed, "I don' know how to be the man she needs me t'be."

"You just gotta be the man she fell in love with and the rest will come into place," Rick smiled, "It's gon' be hard but you two can get through all of that and be as normal a family as you could be in this world."

"Do ya really think all that? Ya ain't gotta be nice ta me," Daryl took another drink, "Don't need no bull shit."

"Daryl, you know I am probably one of the only people who isn't going to bull shit you. I'll always tell you like I see it, okay?" Rick placed a hand on Daryl's shoulder, "You are a good man and you'll be a great father."

"I hope you're right," Daryl sighed.

"Course I am," Rick shook his head, "Come on."

"I'm comin'."

–

"Harper, honey?"

Harper had her back to the doorway, her eyes counting the cracks in the cement on the wall. She hadn't slept a wink and the exhaustion was slowly destroying her but if she tried to close her eyes, she just saw the horrified and confused look Daryl had when he'd found out about the baby. She couldn't deal with Daryl looking at her like that because he only ever looked at her with love and adoration and now she couldn't help but feel like there was an almost disappointment to his face.

"Harper, I don't know what is going on right now but darlin', you need to eat something."

"Carol, please leave me alone," Harper muttered.

There was a dip in the bed and a small hand rested on her leg, "I'm not going anywhere until you eat something."

Harper turned around in her bed to face Carol, "Has anyone seen or heard from Daryl?"

"No honey, but Rick went to go find him a few hours ago, they'll be back," Carol handed her the plate, "Now eat."

Harper sighed as she looked down at the plate, taking in the sight of the food. She stared a moment longer and then quickly climbed off the bed and within seconds she was on her knees, throwing up on the cement floor. "Oh God," Harper groaned, holding her stomach, "I never missed this part."

Carol frowned, getting to her feet, "Harper are you- what do you mean this part?"

Harper looked up at Carol and sighed, "What do you think?" She wiped the sick off of her face, "We found out yesterday that I'm pregnant and that is why Daryl took off like he did."

"Oh honey," Carol sighed and helped Harper to her feet, "Come on darling, lay down."

"I don't think he wants it or is all that concerned about it," Harper was crying again, "He looked so horrified when I told him."

"Shush, you know that is not true," Carol led Harper to the bed and she carefully moved the plate of food, being sure to leave the sight of the food out of the girl's line of vision, "Sit down."

Harper found the bed and she instantly moved to press her cheek against the cold cement wall, "I had such a hard time keeping food down with Lilah. Just the sight of it mad me sick as a dog," she brushed tears away from her face, "I don't know what I am going to do."

"You're going to be fine," Carol quickly assured the girl, "I promise."

"How do you know?" Harper sniffed, "I could maybe do this if Daryl was here but he just took off and left me."

"Daryl is just processing things in his own way, you know how he is," Carol rubbed a hand over the girls back, "He's going to come home and take care of you."

"I just feel like his life would have been better off if I hadn't dumped all of my problems on him. He'd be better off without my childhood trauma dragging him down, he should be free to live his life and yet now he's stuck with me," Harper began to cry harder, "It'll be like when I was pregnant with Lilah all over again."

"Harper," Carol's voice was stern now, "Daryl's not going to be better off without you in his life. You and Lilah are everything he has ever wanted in life and no, he doesn't always tell me what he is really thinking but I have grown to know how to read him. It is practically painted on his face every time he looks at you. This look of adoration and amazement, like he can't quite believe that you're actually in his life."

"But why did he leave me like that?" Harper looked at Carol with her eyes full of tears, "I just dunno what to make of what he did."

"He's a man who has just found out he is going to be a first time father and so yeah, he is a little scared," Carol smiled, "If men processed and dealt with things as quickly as us women, we'd be in a world of trouble."

"Carol?"

They turned to look to the voice that was shouting up the stairs, "Yeah?" she called back.

"Rick is back with Daryl!" It was Michonne telling them as she climbed up the stairs, she came to stop in the doorway and her eyes fell on the sick, "You feeling okay?" Her eyes traveled to Harper, whose face was red from crying and she looked pale.

Harper shrugged, "I guess."

"Want me to send Daryl up once he gets inside?" Michonne asked.

Harper gave a weird jerk of her head, "Yeah I guess."

"Let me get this cleaned up," Carol kissed Harper on the forehead and quickly moved to clean up the sick.

Harper stayed still on the bed, watching the doorway, and waiting for Daryl Dixon to climb the stairs, her heart pounding against her chest the entire time.

**Xx**

**A/N- Again I apologize for the wait between chapters. I had written something and my computer crashed and a bunch of my applications crashed with it...like my iTunes...and I lost what I had written...**

**I got my New York Comic Con passes the other day, with Rick on them! Also...I FOUND A WALKING DEAD CALENDAR WITH REALLY SEXY PICTURES OF DARYL. Yeaahhh. Once I get my finanical aid check...I am buying that shit. **

**Anyways, review? I've had a shitty week...kind words would help. **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_Harper stared at the blank white piece of paper before her. She was still shaking from the pregnancy test that she had read a mere two hours ago and the news was still affecting her in a variety of ways. She had called Matthew and told him, he started screaming at her and had hung up. Now she was alone in her dorm room, not at all sure how to process the news properly, and for some reason the only thing she could think to do, was to write something down. _

_ The paper had started out as an almost diary entry, but she had torn that up and thrown it to the side. Then she tried to write a letter to her sponsor at the girls home and that quickly turned into a ball crumpled on the floor, because telling the only mother like figure she'd had in her life, through a letter, just wasn't fair at all. This third letter kept bringing someone else to her mind, the only other person back home who had tried to protect her, even if he had run off after Merle. _

_ "Daryl." She stared at the words and quickly scratched them out, "Dear Daryl," but that didn't seem any better than her previous writing. She filled up the words with her blue ink and returned to, "Daryl, how are you?" God, she sounded stupid, but her pen began to move again anyways, "I've been away at college and really loving Atlanta, it is a great city. Anyway...you're probably wondering why I'm writing. I don't have anyone else and I need to get this off my chest; I just found out I'm pregnant. I met a guy at school and we had sex at a party and he screamed at me to abort it. I don't want to." Tears dripped from Harper's face and onto the paper and her pen moved again, "I miss you. You were the only person who ever went out of their way to help me. I wish you were here to help me." Harper's eyes scanned the paper and she sighed as her hands instinctively crumpled up the paper into a ball and it soon joined the others on the floor. _

–

Carol was still cleaning up the mess when Daryl had finished climbing the stairs. He stared at Carol in the doorway and quietly asked, "What happened?"

Carol turned and looked at Daryl, "Harper had a bad case of morning sickness." She cleaned the last of the sick and got to her feet, "Take care of her, Daryl."

Daryl gave a weird jerk of his head and watched as Carol cleaned the dirty towels down the stairs. Slowly he approached the room and his feet crossed the threshold of the cell and his eyes met Harper's tired and sad blue orbs.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Hi," Harper's voice was thick with emotion but she was determined to not cry in front of him.

"I uh," he scratched his head, "I'm sorry 'bout yesterday."

"Okay," her eyes fell to her hands, "Thank you for apologizing."

"Can I sit down?"

"I won't stop you."

Daryl sat down beside Harper and his eyes fell to her stomach, his mind slowly processing the thought that '_There's a baby in there.' _"Ya know, I always wanted a kid," he rubbed his hands on his jeans out of a nervous tick, "But I didn' ever think it would happen, 'cause it's me and I don't deserve somethin' great like a kid."

Harper looked up at him and her hands reached to push his long hair out of his face, "Lilah has always been the best thing that happened to me and hopefully, you'll realize this baby can be too. It's not going to be easy but no one ever said child raising was."

Daryl's eyes met hers again and his face leaned into her caress, "We gon' do this?"

"We have to," was all she said.

"I want to be a good father to both Lilah and our baby," Daryl's hand reached for Harper's and he squeezed it gently.

"All I ever wanted was for my girl to have a father who will love her to bits and that is all I want for this baby."

Daryl leaned in and gently pressed his lips against hers. Their tongues twisted together, flavors mixing together, a weird combination of whiskey and that sweet berry taste that Harper's mouth always had. She leaned back, her head reaching the pillow as Daryl covered her body with his own, "I'm so sorry," he mumbled against her lips.

"I know you are," she replied, continuing to kiss him.

"Say ya forgive me," he stared into her eyes, an intense emotion blazing in them that Harper couldn't possibly begin to decipher.

"Of course I forgive you," she whispered.

He pressed his rough lips against hers once more and his hands quickly began to explore her body. One of his hands reached up to cup her already tender breasts and the other hand gradually began to reach farther down and Harper was about to assist Daryl in getting the button on her jeans undone, when they heard a loud squeal.

"Daryl!" Lilah cried.

Daryl quickly removed his hands from Harper and in his haste to sit up, he rolled off the bed and landed on the floor, "Damn," he muttered.

"Oh my God," Harper sat up, trying to hide the smile on her face, "Are you okay?"

Daryl glanced up at her but simply nodded his head, "Yeah," he sat up and looked at Lilah, "Hi Princess."

"Where have you been?!" Lilah asked, crossing her arms.

"I uh," Daryl scratched his head, "I had ta go run some errands that took me longer to do, than I thought, so I stayed over night 'cause I didn' wan' travel the roads at night."

"Momma was crying all night," Lilah narrowed her eyes in her best attempt to look intimating.

"Lilah!" Harper fussed.

"Nah, it's okay," Daryl reached for Lilah but the playful grin on his face had quickly returned to the ashamed look he'd had just a few minutes before. "I'll tell ya the truth," he began slowly, "Yer momma and I had us a fight and so I spent the night away to give 'er some space. I didn' mean'ta hurt yer momma or you, I just thought it was for the best. 'Cept sometimes I don't make the best decisions and leavin' won't a good one."

"Did you apologize to my mommy?" Lilah asked slowly.

Daryl nodded, "Yes I did."

"Okay, good!" Lilah threw her arms around Daryl, "No more fighting!"

"Yes ma'am," Daryl kissed the child on the temple and smiled as Lilah hugged her mother next and then she was gone. Daryl turned to look at Harper, "Is it true you didn' get no rest?"

Harper shrugged, "I can't sleep without you anymore."

"Come on," Daryl kicked his boots off and climbed into the bed, carefully pulling Harper into his arms, "Try to sleep, okay?"

Harper curled into his embrace, her face burrowing into the crook of his neck, "Promise me you won't leave again."

"I'm not gonna leave ya, not ever."

–

**A/N- children, this is the beginning of the end. Please review and I'll try to work on the next one shortly. **


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Daryl, come here!"

Daryl had been in the cell block cleaning his arrows when he heard Harper call. He dropped his things and took off running, "Harper, what is it?" He turned the corner and saw his seventeen week pregnant girlfriend, holding her very swollen stomach and staring down at it, "Is the baby okay?"

She nodded quickly, "Come here," Harper reached for his large hand and gently placed it over her stomach where her hand had been only a moment before.

There was a long moment of silence and Harper was aware that the others were watching the interaction. Finally Daryl reacted when he felt a tiny kick against where his hand was resting.

"Holy shit," he breathed out.

Harper beamed, "Isn't that great?"

Daryl bent down so that he was eye level with her belly and he simply smiled up at Harper, "That's great."

When Harper and Daryl had told everyone else about the baby, they handled it a lot better than anyone anticipated. Lilah of course, had been over the moon about being a big sister. Maggie and Beth took it upon themselves to start chipping in for Harper's chores, essentially forbidding her from doing anything; which Daryl had been especially pleased about. Overall, everyone helped where they could to make the next seven months go by for Harper with little to no stress.

"That is a very good sign," Hershel spoke up from where he was sitting, "Means your baby is getting to be good and strong."

"Like his or her daddy," Harper grinned.

Daryl would have reached up and kissed her then, but refrained because of all of the watchful eyes, "I love you," he mouthed to her.

She nodded, "I love you too."

–

"You really should be resting, honey," Carol fussed.

Harper looked up from where she was sitting at the table, folding laundry, and she frowned, "Carol putting laundry away is not going to cause me physical strain."

"No, but you're always on edge when Daryl and Rick go hunting so you may as well be under a physical strain."

"Carol, I am fine," Harper said, "Really I am."

Harper was just about at forty-one weeks and she was huge. The pregnancy hadn't posed any major complications. There was only the occasional flares of stress that she endured when Daryl went hunting. He usually didn't like to go but the general consensus was that it had to be him because he always brought back the best haul.

"I just think you should be laying down," Carol sat down beside her, "These are the critical days."

"I have been pregnant before, you know," Harper said.

"Just indulge me," Carol smiled, "I only want the best for you and this baby."

Harper stared at her friend for a long time and then finally nodded, "Alright fine," she set the laundry down and got to her feet, "I'll go take a nap." She twisted her body to pick something up off of the table and that was when she felt a sharp twinge. "Ow," she cried out.

"Harper?" Carol's face quickly turned into one of concern, "What's wrong honey?"

Harper stayed still for a moment and then she cried out as another burst of pain shot up her side, "Oh God, I think it's time."

Carol was on her feet quickly, "Glenn and Maggie, help me with her now."

The couple was at her side instantly, helping her to walk to the cell block and to the first bed that they could reach. Harper sank into the cool mattress and inhaled sharply, "Oh God, I forgot how much this sucked."

Beth appeared with Hershel at her side, "I went and got daddy as quickly as I could."

Hershel sat down beside Harper and handed his crutches to Maggie, "How's everything feelin'?"

Harper shrugged, "Okay I guess. Typical baby would come when Daryl is gone," just as the words left her lips she felt another surge of pain, worse than before, and she threw her head down into the pillow, crying out.

"Maggie, keep a track of the time until the next one," Hershel instructed his oldest. He turned to Carol, "Get clean towels and boil some water," and then he looked to Glenn, "Glenn you go with Michonne and see if you can find the others. Check the usual spots."

In a whirlwind everyone began to move, spurred into action by the pressing arrival of the baby. They were determined that this delivery would end better than the last birth in the prison. Within moments Lilah had rushed into the room with Carl right behind her, "Momma?" Lilah asked.

Hershel tuned to look at Lilah and then back to Harper who had her hand outstretched for her daughter, "Hi baby," she said.

"Momma what is happening?"

"The baby is on the way," Harper's smile quickly turned to a grimace as she suffered another contraction.

"Two minutes between contractions," Maggie informed her father.

"Harper I need to check to see how far your cervix is in dilation," Hershel said.

Harper nodded and then looked to the children, "Carl I need you to take Lilah and keep an eye on her."

"I'll take care of them," Beth promised.

"But momma!" Lilah began to say, her eyes filling with tears.

"Baby please do what I say," Harper said, "I'll be fine."

"Lilah do what your momma says," Beth gave the child a stern look.

Lilah nodded and turned back to follow Carl and Beth out of the cell.

"Alright Hershel, what is going on?" Harper looked to the older man.

"You're about five centimeters right now, so it is good because you still have time for Daryl to get here but bad because it could be awhile yet," Hershel sighed, "Just practice your breathing for now."

"Right breathing, okay then," Harper stared up at the ceiling, "Daryl please hurry," she whispered, as a tear from the pain rolled down her cheek.

–

"Damn, we gon' eat good tonight," Daryl pulled an arrow out of the deer he had just killed.

"Might even have to try and grill this up," Rick smiled, "So we'll put this on the side for us and the other bag just for Harper and her intense eating habits."

Daryl smirked, "Yeah well, I think she's earned the right."

"Maybe just a bit," Rick grinned.

"Yeah, a bit," Daryl laughed.

He picked the deer up and began to carry it to the car that was waiting on the side of the road.

"So ya scared still about being a father?"

Daryl looked up to Rick who had appeared at his side, "Maybe just a bit," he shrugged, "It's gon' happen any day now and there ain't nothin' that'll be made better by being scared."

"Yeah but still," Rick shrugged, "I was terrified when Carl arrived."

"I guess I'm afraid about changin' a diaper," Daryl confessed.

Rick let out a snort of laughter, "A diaper? Really Dixon?"

"What? They're scary things. You know, I love lil' ass kicker, but I've never changed her diapers."

"You know," Rick paused, "I guess it never occurred to me that you haven't changed one of her diapers," he laughed, "You're a mess."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Daryl pulled the sheet over the deer, "Anyway, we should look some more and then head back."

Rick turned, "Yeah probably-" he stopped as his eyes scanned up the road as dust kicked up, indicating a speeding vehicle.

"Who the hell is that?" Daryl asked, frowned.

Rick squinted as the sun came over the ridge, shining through the dust, bouncing off the oncoming car, "Dunno."

Daryl took a step forward, "That looks like Harper's van," he frowned, "It is the van," he looked back at Rick.

"You're right," Rick waved an arm out to the oncoming vehicle and within seconds it was stopped in front of them.

Michonne and Glenn hopped up, "Oh thank God we found you," Glenn said in an exasperated breath.

"What is it?" Rick asked them.

"Is it Harper?" Daryl asked, "Did something happen?"

"She's in labor and having serious contractions," Michonne told them.

"God damn it," Daryl quickly ran around to his parked motorcycle.

"Daryl hang on!" Rick shouted.

"I've gotta go!" Daryl replied, "She needs me!"

The three friends stayed in their spots as they watched Daryl take off up the road.

–

"Honey, you're going to have to start pushing," Hershel said.

Harper looked at him, "I can't be ready yet!" She looked around wildly, "Daryl isn't here yet!"

"I know, but you're at ten centimeters. You're gonna have to do it," Hershel shared a sympathetic look with the girl, "You'll do more harm by not pushing when you need to."

She began to cry, "But I don't want to do this without him! He has to be here!"

Carol came around to Harper's side, "Darling, you've got to calm down, this isn't healthy for the baby."

Harper looked through her tears to her friend, "I just want Daryl."

"I know, believe me I know," Carol took the girl's hand, "Just take a deep breath and he'll be here before you-"

"I'm here!" There was a loud commotion in the other room, like someone tripping over a table and then a clang as, what Harper could only assume was Daryl's crossbow being set down, and then he was in the doorway, "I'm here!" His eyes fell on Harper and he took in the blood soaked sheets and then he was trading places with Carol and he was holding Harper's hand. "Hi baby," he whispered, "I'm sorry I wasn't here."

Harper shook her head, "You're here now and-"

"Harper, you can do this later. You have to start pushing," Hershel barked.

She nearly jumped, "Okay!" Harper took a deep breath and then she began to push down, a scream of pain coming from her the entire time.

"Come on baby," Daryl grabbed hold of her hand, "I'm right here, you can do this."

"Oh God it hurts so bad," Harper sobbed.

"Keep pushing, Harper," Hershel said.

Harper squeezed down on Daryl's hand and used all of her strength to push down once more. The pain was nothing like Harper had ever experienced before. When she had given birth to Lilah, they had agreed ahead of time that she would have a C-section, and while the pain from her scars and healing had been excruciating, it was nothing compared to giving birth naturally. There were more screams of pain and Daryl gradually felt his hand going numb, but he kept his eyes fixed on Harper the whole time, as if to ensure she wasn't going to fade away in front of him.

"Alright Harper, I can see the head, you're doin' real good," Hershel instructed, "We need another push from you."

Harper nodded, what she had to do was registering in her mind.

"You can do this baby, yer almost there," Daryl told her, he gently reached over and pushed her hair out of her eyes, wiping sweat off her brow as he did so, "Come on."

Harper nodded and gave one last final push and soon her screams were joined by the tiny screams of another. Her head fell back onto the pillow from the sheer exhaustion, "Daryl," she whispered, grabbing the front of his worn out vest, "Check on the baby."

Hershel was using a warm cloth to clean the baby's face off, "It's a baby boy," he said aloud.

Daryl stared in wonderment at the tiny baby, "Holy shit," he whispered.

Harper snorted in laughter and everyone turned to look at her. Her eyes were heavy with sleep but she had her eyes open regardless, "You see our son for the first time and you say holy shit?" She shook her head, "Come on Daryl."

He gave a half-hearted laugh and he quickly reached over to kiss her on the lips, "I love you," he whispered against her mouth.

She nodded, "Daryl, you need to detach the baby from me."

He laughed and turned to the scene behind him. Carol had some surgical scissors that someone had thought to pick up on a past run, Daryl was secretly glad he didn't have to use his knife. He took the scissors and carefully cut the umbilical cord from his son.

"Let me just finish cleaning him up," Carol told Daryl gently.

He stared at her, as if not fully registering the words, finally he nodded and returned to his place beside Harper.

"How is he?" she asked, looking up at him again.

"He's the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Daryl told her in a quick rush.

Harper laughed, "Well you would say that."

He looked at her sharply, "What?"

She shook her head, "First time parent syndrome, though I'm sure he's pretty amazing."

Daryl smiled at her again, "Yeah a bit."

Harper's body screamed in protest but she carefully pulled herself into a sitting position just as Carol was returning with a freshly cleaned baby, who was wrapped up carefully into a small yellow baby blanket.

"Who is holding him first?" Carol asked, smiling.

"I only just gave birth to him," Harper joked, "I think it's fair if I get the first chance."

Carol laughed, "You're right." She came around to the side of the bed and carefully handled the small bundle over to his mother, "Got it?"

Harper nodded, "Safe and sound," she smiled, "Thank you Carol."

"I'll give you two some time," Hershel said quietly, eying the new family with a warm twinkle in his eyes.

He grabbed up his crutches and began to wobble out of the room, followed closely behind by Carol and Maggie. Daryl watched them go and then his gaze turned back to the woman beside him, whose eyes were transfixed on the small bundle in front of her.

"Oh God, he's beautiful," Harper breathed.

"Like 'is momma," Daryl's voice came out as barely above a whisper.

Harper shook her head, "Daryl he looks just like you."

"Nah, there ain't no way."

She looked over at him, "You wanna hold him?"

Daryl stared at her, a look of absolute terror was on his face, "Harper baby, he's so perfect. I can't take him from ya," he shrugged, "I don' wanna ruin 'im."

"Daryl," she fixed him with a stern look, "You are not your father and you are not Merle, just like I am not Earl Jefferson or my step mother. You are perfect with Judith and Lilah and you will be even better with this miracle because he is all of the good things that make up a Dixon man. We've been over this and you are going to make an amazing father."

He laughed nervously, "I guess."

"Now put your arms out as if this was new born Judith again," Harper instructed, a stern note tinged her already exhausted voice.

Daryl's large arms reached to take the baby, whom he cradled carefully against his chest. He looked down at the tiny baby and let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, "Wow."

She smiled and relaxed into the pillows again, "Amazing, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

"See what I mean about looking like ya?" Harper closed her eyes, "He has your nose, hair, and in time, I bet your eyes."

"Don't go an' give me all the credit," Daryl said quietly, "I see you in 'im."

Harper leaned over and pressed her head against Daryl's and her eyes fell down on the baby, "I can't believe this is real."

"Me neither."

–

"How is she? Is the baby okay? What did they have?"

"Beth, honey you need to take a breath between words," Hershel was smiling, "She's fine. There were no complications and the baby is a healthy baby boy."

Beth beamed, "Oh I have to go get Lilah!"

"Just wait," Hershel said, "Daryl and Harper deserve some alone time with the baby and then when Harper requests it, we can get Lilah in here."

"Alright," Beth was still beaming though, "Oh I love new babies."

Hershel laughed as he sat down, "They are nice little beacons of hope in this world."

"And if anyone deserves that kind of happiness, it is Daryl," Carol said.

"I agree," Rick was sitting in the corner with Judith in his lap, who seemed happily content to play with her blocks, "The both of them have been through so much, it seems only fair."

–

"Okay Mr. Dixon, my turn."

"Hang on a second," Daryl told Harper, his eyes were still fixed on the sleeping baby in his arms.

"Excuse me?" She frowned, "I want to see my baby and I need to feed him."

Daryl laughed, "Okay fine," he leaned closer to Harper and carefully handed the baby over to her.

"Hi little darling," Harper whispered before carefully lifting her shirt, "Time to eat." The tiny newborn gummed at his mothers skin before finally latching on and he began to eat, "Little greedy sucker," she commented, briefly grimacing at the pain.

"Ya okay?" Daryl asked, having noticed the look on her face.

"Yeah, it's just hard sometimes," Harper smiled at him, "He doesn't hurt as much as Lilah did."

"Well that's good."

"So daddy," Harper began, "Thoughts on names?"

"Uh," Daryl scratched the back of his neck, "I dunno. I always liked Alex."

"Alexander?" Harper countered.

Daryl laughed, "But Alex for short."

Harper looked at the baby, "I dunno, he doesn't seem like an Alexander or an Alex."

"Well, what do ya think he looks like?"

"How about," Hayden paused as she thought, "Daryl Dixon?"

A huge grin crossed Daryl's face, "Really?"

"Well do you like Oliver?" she asked him, smiling back.

He nodded, "Yeah I do."

"Then we'll call him Oliver Daryl."

Daryl leaned over and kissed Harper on the lips, "I love ya."

She smiled against his mouth, "I love you too."

"I guess we should introduce Lilah to her brother," Daryl said as he leaned back into his seat.

"Will you go get her?" Harper asked.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah, I'll be right back."

When Daryl stepped into the dining hall, he felt all eyes on him, and a peculiar feeling washed over him.

"Well here he is," Rick smiled, "The new father."

Daryl laughed nervously, "Yeah," he ran a hand over the back of his neck and looked around, "Lilah outside?"

Hershel nodded, "She's with Beth and Carl."

Daryl took off up the stairs and outside. His eyes squinted in the setting sun, searching the yard for Beth and the kids. He saw a grouping of walkers on the south end but paid them no mind, they had spent the summer reinforcing the fence and he felt comfortable in the work they they had made. He had just been scanning his eyes up the yard again when he heard a small squeal and his name called.

"Daryl!"

Within seconds he felt a small body thrown around him and Daryl quickly reached down to pick up the little girl, "Hiya little one," he said, smiling.

"Is mommy okay?" Lilah asked instantly.

Daryl nodded, "Momma sent me to get you so that you can meet yer new brother."

Lilah's eyes went wide, "Really?"

Daryl nodded, "Come on Princess." He carried the girl into the prison and through the doorway, setting her down just outside of the cell where Harper was feeding the baby.

"Hi baby girl," Harper greeted.

"Hi momma," Lilah whispered.

"Come here and meet your brother."

Lilah was very quiet as she walked over to the side of the bed and peered over at the baby, "What is he doing?"

"I'm feeding him just like how I used to feed you," Harper told her.

"What is his name?" Lilah asked next.

"Oliver," Daryl said from the doorway, "Do ya like it?"

Lilah looked at Daryl and nodded, "Yeah!"

"Come on up here," Harper told her daughter.

Lilah climbed on the bed and sat down in her mothers lap so that she could see the baby better, "He's so little and pink."

"You were little and pink too," Harper told her.

Daryl came over to the side of the bed and seated himself down beside Harper, "As was baby Judith."

Harper smiled and leaned her head on Daryl's shoulder, "God I'm so happy."

"For the firs' time since this all happened, I am too," Daryl told her.

"Welcome to your family Daryl, you're stuck with us," she looked up at him and smiled.

Daryl returned the smile and pressed his lips to hers, "Thank you Harper."

"Thank you Daryl."

"So are we all family now?" Lilah asked, looking at the two adults.

"I think we are," Harper looked at Daryl, "You?"

Daryl nodded, "Yeah I would say we are." There was just the ghost of a smile on his lips as the words left him.

A/N- Well kids, that was it. Kind of an open ending that left you hanging there, but I did that intentionally. Thank you to everyone who read and supported me...I really greatly appreciate it. Please let me know what you think of the ending...


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